Appraisal Podcasts

Hacking Skype: 25 Tips to Improve Your Skype Experience

For those of you looking to use your computer to place and receive phone calls, Skype is the market leader and this article helps you get even more out of it. Call other people on Skype and it’s free - anywhere in the world.

I ran across this cool software package recently and like what it “can” do. I have not tried it but the accuracy makes sense  - you know the size of target you place on the building and you should be able to scale from that. I do not make a commission of the sales of the software, just thought it was a neat idea and thought some of the readers may be interested in it. From the software developer’s website:

“iPhotoMEASURE Standard Edition is a revolutionary software tool that enables you to measure anything in a photo taken with your digital camera. This is very useful when physical measurements are difficult or unsafe to perform or when you cannot physically be present to make these measurements.”

There is also a quick video you can watch to see how the software works. Website can be found here.

Trillions of dollars of commercial property owned by real-estate investment trusts, corporations and other investors around the world will soon become obsolete—and will drop in value. This looming obsolescence has nothing to do with the housing bubble. It will affect office buildings, shopping malls, warehouses and distribution centers. It threatens real-estate portfolios from Chicago to Shanghai, even as it also opens new profit-making opportunities.

What’s going on? A significant real-estate market shift is gathering momentum: Green buildings—which have a less negative impact on the environment, boast lower energy consumption, and offer healthier indoor environments than “standard” buildings—are going mainstream.

The numbers tell the story. The U.S. Green Building Council, an independent nonprofit association of more than 6,000 professionals and organizations dedicated to sustainable building design and construction, offers a rigorous Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for buildings seeking to be designated as green. The group’s listings go from the most basic, or certified, through silver and gold ratings to its highest ranking, platinum.

As of this month, the council had certified 669 buildings as green. Waiting in the queue for ratings are 4,926 more edifices, an indication of the enormous surge in U.S. market demand and the number of buildings being constructed with green considerations in mind. (For the complete article click this link)

In a comment letter dated January 17, 2007, the Appraisal Institute, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers raised several points of concern, as well as of support, to the Internal Revenue Service in response to its transitional guidance on appraisal requirements of noncash charitable contributions. The guidance, released in October 2006, attempts to implement the appraisal provisions enacted by Congress last year in the Pension Protection Act (H.R. 4).(for the full article from the Appraisal Institute, click here)

It was bound to happen. A former commodities trader combining his knowledge of supply and demand with the conventional wisdom that crowds are smarter that the sum of their parts and voila’ a new web site called www.my-currency.com. Aimed at bettering www.zillow.com and other on-line valuation sites, My-Currency is suggesting that it will be better at predicting the true market value of properties than sites that rely on public records, comparable sales and other factors. As a professional appraiser with years of education, demonstrated experience and testing, I usually get a big kick out of these types of sites.  In this day and age of Internet valuations I usually suggest that you get what you pay for. Sure Turbo Tax and other on-line tax sites are great for simple 1040’s and 1040 EZ’s, but are you willing to trust your complex tax returns to anyone other than a trained professional?  Are you willing to risk one of the biggest purchases, if not the biggest, you make to a crowd of people you don’t know and aren’t working on your behalf? In this day and age of various types of mortgage and real estate fraud, I hope that people still see value in using trained professionals.

It is an interesting concept though. My-Currency just launched and is in Alpha mode with only the San Francisco Bay Area active. A Beta site to launch by the end of February with more functionality. The site is launching with a great deal of fanfare.

“My-Currency.com will harness the wisdom of the crowd not only to achieve valuations, but to determine “who is the expert — the wisest of the crowd,” Tahawi said. “The value to real estate professionals is in the age of the Internet, 80 percent of people are starting their search online,” Tahawi said. “At the end of the day, when they need a human being, we’re providing depth and meaning to the names and faces.” My-Currency.com is expected to provide agents and brokers better visibility on the Internet because the site, once it has a larger user base, will show up high in search-engine results, according to Tahawi. As envisioned by Tahawi, My-Currency.com would be something like Zillow, the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, and the Chicago Commodities Exchange rolled into one. Visitors will be able to ask for valuations of a property by entering an address and basic information, or submitting a link to a listing. Other users will submit their valuation estimates (which the site treats as trades). The closer those estimates are to the market consensus that emerges over time — and ultimately, to the price of the house if it sells — the more reputation currency is earned.”

 

Green alleys plan could hit streets | Chicago Tribune

This is an interesting article on newer technologies to help with run-off.

“In the Chicago area’s topsy-turvy climate, where droughts and floods are known to take turns causing headaches, a pavement that could help ease both has begun to seep into planners’ thoughts. Used in Europe for decades, so-called permeable pavement allows rainwater to pass through instead of running off into rivers or lakes. Made of either porous asphalt and concrete or paving stones shaped to leave gaps at the corners, the surfaces are just starting to catch on in the area as part of the movement toward “green building,” which seeks to lessen the environmental impact of development.”

Thanks to Midwest Green People for finding this article.

Jetson Green Blog Green Appraisals + Valuation - Not Recognizing Building Values Yet

Followers of Appraisal Podcasts know that I recently posted an article about green buildings and whether they could command a rent premium. I ran across the Jetson Green blog recently and thought I would pass one of his posts along to you. Some food for thought on green buildings and the valuation issues that present themselves to appraisers. I think that current valuation techniques, properly employed by a skilled appraiser would yield reasonable and well supported valuations. If the market perceives a value difference in green buildings it should be measurable from the market.  The Jetson Green blog doesn’t quite agree:  

“This is a topic that just eats at my mind.  I’ve written about green lending before, but according to the industry, lenders don’t care if a building is sustainable.  Green features are ancillary to the job they’re doing.  And for appraisers, it’s too risky to take green features into account when appraising a building.  Appraisers keep using historical methods of valuation because the lenders will hold them accountable if a deal doesn’t go through on an appraised value.  I must admit, I don’t have much experience in the appraisals line of work, so feel free to jump in…regardless, if we can’t get this valuation thing figured out, owners won’t realize value that they legitimately have in the buildings.”   

The topic of green buildings and the proper valuation techniques will likely see more articles in the near future. There are some very good links to articles within the Jetson Green post. I encourage you to read the blog post and the accompanying articles.