Pa Appraisers

[Six Flags]

I am an appraiser in new jersey. But I soon will be doing some reports in Philadelphia, PA.

I have had trouble finding resources for zoning, floood maps, taxes, block&lot, square footage, etc, etc.

If theres any appraisers that work in PA that can give me some resources I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Paula Greer]

I am not licensed to appraise in PA, but I do review commercial appraisals all over the country. As part of my review, I verify information on the sales that are used in the appraisal report. Our company has a subscription to Realquest, which is the data divison of First American Real Estate Solutions that is also a division of one of the national title companies. I can pull plat maps, legal descriptions, GBA, year built and transaction history for most areas of the country, including PA. I think that you can get subscriptions for just specific areas that you need for a lower rate. Of course, the old fashioned, low tech method is to stop in the Assessor's office and get the information directly from the source. As far as flood map information, Interflood that is offered by Alamode is about the most user-friendly and will provide a flood map for any address that participates in the flood insurance program. The cost used to based on a flat rate for up to 250 maps within a year's time. I'm not sure if that has changed in the last year or so since I had my individual subscription. Good luck.

 

[Gabor Galantai]

Paula's recommendation is a very good one. Real Quest web search will result in extensive amount of data. Previously it was named Metroscan ,data was distributed on CDs.
I take aerial views of the subject property at www.terraserver.com. It is useful when I go to neighberhood shopping centers or any other C/I properties with multiple improvements on the site.
I also print out the property plot maps from the assessor's internet site for reference.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

IMO - If you are doing residential appraising:

You MUST have the local MLS. Everything else just gives raw minimum data. Even with MLS, there are many sales that will need further verification.

If you are only using a data service without MLS for that specific area, you are not appraising, are no better than an AVM, and shouldn't have an appraisers license.

 

[Six Flags]

Originally posted by Pamela Crowley (Florida)@Sep 7 2005, 06:20 AM
IMO - If you are doing residential appraising:

You MUST have the local MLS. Everything else just gives raw minimum data. Even with MLS, there are many sales that will need further verification.

If you are only using a data service without MLS for that specific area, you are not appraising, are no better than an AVM, and shouldn't have an appraisers license.

I realize I need to check the MLS. But Im more interested in finding data like square footage of comps, zoning, taxes, lot sizes, etc.

 

[Otis Key]

Originally posted by Lenny Molinari@Sep 4 2005, 04:02 PM
I am an appraiser in new jersey. But I soon will be doing some reports in Philadelphia, PA.

I have had trouble finding resources for zoning, floood maps, taxes, block&lot, square footage, etc, etc.

If theres any appraisers that work in PA that can give me some resources I would greatly appreciate it.

Nice suggestions gant. Not being familiar with the geographic differences or likenesses of the two different area, I won't even dwell on the C word of USPAP. An associaton of another appraiser familiar with that area might also be of assistance.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

[DJBanas]

Lenny:

I am also an appraiser in S. NJ, but I lived in Philadelphia for 41 years and the company I work for does appraisals there so I am very familiar with the market.

To do any appraisal work in the city you need access to the TREND MLS. This will provide you with tax records which usually include excellent GLA info and very good listing and sales info. If you are not familiar with te neighborhoods in Philly you need the TREND ADC Map book. The grid coordinates are a little different, more intensively detailed to a few square blocks and this is the location information that the listing realtor places on the listing page. It helps when you refine your comp search to 4 square blocks instead of 40 square blocks in a zip code.

As far as dealing with the tax office or the Registrar of deeds, Good Luck! You will normally find that sales are not posted on any tax record for 12-18 months. Information about zoning requires a request form and some payment (not sure how much) but I expect that in most major cities that payments are common. Try to get get a bulk sheet. The zoning code is on the TREND MLS Tax Record and you can fiqure out the zoning requirements and legality.

Good Luck on what I am sure will be an exciting adventure!

Don