Merry Christmas 2021

 It looks like the 2020 Christmas post fell by the wayside. Nevertheless, Fran and I wish you the best for this Holiday Season.

Note: Due to a change in my work focus, I had to dust off my tape measure and clipboard. Both have been used this month. First time in many months.

Back to Blogging?

It's been almost two years since my last blog post, and over two years since blogging about anything related to appraisal. It looks like it might be time to give it another go. The nature of my assignments over the past seven years, or so, has limited my production here because of time, confidentiality agreements and protective orders. That long series of assignments has regretfully come to a conclusion. Let's see if some ideas come my way. There is plenty going on in the appraisal world.

Merry Christmas 2019

Another extremely busy year. Much going on the Appraisal World. Looking forward to 2020 and working on improving the Appraisal Profession.

Fran and I wish you the best for this Holiday Season.

April 1st Edition of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board

Have you wondered what goes on during a meeting of an appraiser state regulatory board meeting? Is it worth your time to attend? Will anything be learned? Only you can decide, but it will be worth your time to tune into the LIVE STREAM of the April Fool’s Day Edition of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board.

The disciplinary cases are always informative. The Respondents sometimes illustrate HOW NOT to act and respond to the complaint, and answer questions posed by FREAB members. The FIRST case on the Legal Docket, the special Teleconference Agenda, Legal Agenda-A, may be entertaining, informative, and fulfill your expectations for April Fool’s Day.

The Division of Administrative Hearings has relinquished jurisdiction to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. An informal hearing on the case is scheduled for 8:30 A.M. on Monday, April 1, 2019. 

HERE is a copy of the Administrative Complaint. The Division of Administrative Hearings DOCKET for the case has links to documents relevant to the case. One example of the appraiser’s responses to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Real Estate, can be found at this LINK.

If you are near a computer on April 1, 2019, tune in to the LIVE STREAM at 8:30 A.M. It should make your day.

Merry Christmas - 2018

2018 was another extremely busy year. Several interesting Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board meetings, and several changes in the works for 2019.

Although Appraiser Active only got around to posting the news a couple times, that may change in the upcoming year. In the meantime, we wish you the best for this Holiday Season.



...and one more from the back yard.

FREAB Meeting - February 5, 2018 - EVALUATIONS!!

The Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board will have their first meeting of 2018 on Monday, February 5, 2018. The FREAB meets in Suite N901 (ninth floor) at 400 West Robinson Street, Orlando, FL. The meeting starts at 8:30 AM.

The legal agenda is light; only four cases are on the docket. All involve consideration of a Settlement Stipulation by the FREAB. Nevertheless, there is always a chance something interesting will be discussed, and a learning opportunity will result.

Things are bound to get interesting around 1:00 P.M. At that time the board is scheduled to take up a Discussion of Evaluations. This discussion was prompted by amendments to Chapter 475 Part II as a result of HB 927, passed by the 2017 Florida Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. The amendments became effective October 1, 2017.

There is plenty to say about the amendments, and the attempt to soften standards applicable to the services provided by Florida Appraisers. Rather than reproduce everything here, Appraiser Active suggests you take a look at the documents to be considered by the FREAB, including the comment letter from yours truly. CLICK HERE. My comments start on page 29 of the pdf.

If you have a chance to attend the meeting and weigh in, I'm sure the FREAB will welcome you comments. If not, the meeting will be live streamed. TUNE IN and hear the conversation and how the board decides to proceed. If thee TUNE IN link above does not direct you to the GoTo meeting page, use this LINK and click on live stream.

FREAB - New Website

Welcome to 2018! The Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board (FREAB) has a new look to their site. It looks like the FREAB benefits from an overhaul of the the full spectrum of sites associated with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). 

In another nod to the realization of the world we live in, the DBPR offers a Mobile App!  Functionality is limited, but it is a starting point to:

• Verify license by name or license number
• Report suspected unlicensed activity
• Read the DBPR weekly newsletter

When you visit the site, I suggest visiting the "Board Home" tab, and "Board Information" tab to keep up to date on what is going on. Watch this space for news about the next FREAB meeting, February 5, 2018.

Season's Greetings

Friends, 2017 has been an extremely busy year. Despite my best intentions, Appraiser Active has not seen many updates. Hope to change that in the upcoming year.

In the meantime, have a Wonderful Holiday Season.

Is There Money in Owning an Appraisal Management Company?

There is not much for me to add to this column (alternate link HERE) about Appraisal Management Companies by Ken Harney. Let's just say, if, in fact "there's a tremendous amount of value" his industry (AMCs) brings to the table, consumers should be aware of it before being forced to pay.

Should consumers be concerned? Here's what HousingWire had to say about one of the biggest AMC players:

"CoreLogic revenue explodes thanks to growing property valuation business"

"According to CoreLogic, the company’s revenue jumped 30% in the second quarter, rising to $500 million from $386 million in the same time period last year."

Looks like the "value" is in owning and running an AMC.

National Association of REALTORS Appraiser Survey

Back in January of this year, the National Association of REALTORS emailed their REALTOR - Appraiser members. The survey was developed by the National Association of REALTORS Research Department and conducted with the assistance of The Olinger Group. Assistance with wording and development of questions and answers was provided by the NAR Real Property Valuation Committee. 

Survey results were released yesterday. Please take a look at the publication, Appraiser Trends Study, and let us know what you think.

HousingWire has a synopsis of the findings they find interesting. The quote provided by Bill Brown, NAR President, is encouraging. “The work of an appraiser is indispensable to our industry. Appraisers provide the credible, outside opinion on a property value that agents, lenders, and ultimately the consumer depend on to guide them through a transaction.”