You really need to do this if you own your own home. There are no income requirements and… “The Home Energy Rebate program provides rebates up to $10,000 to homeowners who improve the energy efficiency of their homes.”   Time is of the essence because you need to get on a list for an evaluation…this is gonna take some time so go to the site and sign up now!

I found this this opinion very interesting and make no conclusions on how appraisals came to the changes we see today, but the fact that changes have been made in our market’s appraisal method is inarguable.   Most sellers are put in a position that they KNOW what they need to net from the sale of their home.   Unfortunately and often the current market does not allow for their needs.   In our market you WILL find a Realtor willing to tell you what you need to hear.    The question is “can you afford to have your house on the market an additional 90 days while you adjust the price incrementally towards reality?”   A competent Realtor will provide knowledge of market conditions, trends and provide a adequate CMA to assist providing a realistic price for the timely sale of your home.

Appraisers Values Coming in Too Low To Sell

by TOM ROYCE on JANUARY 19, 2011

If you are trying to sell your home or are in the real estate business you know one things is true these days. Finding a buyer is just the first step. Getting an appraisal to work with the offer is often a deal breaker.

According to a report in the Free Press, 40 percent of deals in Detroit are blowing up because the appraisal is coming in too low.

Appraisals, many of them inflated during themarket boom, have fallen to Earth. While appraisers argue that guidelines passed in 2009 protect home buyers and lenders by giving them a realistic value for the home, Realtors and homeowners say the appraisals are too conservative.

This further depresses the housing market because most buyers are not able to put up the extra cash if there is a huge gap between what they offer for the house and what it’s appraised for — and sellers don’t want to lower the asking price if the appraisal comes in low.

Now don’t blame the appraiser. They are the ones caught in the crossfire.

The story goes back to the mid 2000’s when appraisers were pressured by the real estate agents and the lenders to make the numbers work. If they gave an honest appraisal and blew up a deal, odds are they would not find any work again. The banks wanted to lend on anything and the agents wanted to sell anything.

So what if the homes were overvalued, it really did not matter.

So when it all blew up regulators changed the rules for appraisers.

No longer could the lender hire an appraiser directly, he had to do so through a 3rd party.

The 3rd party appraisal companies wanted to make money so they are hiring the lowest cost appraisers who may not know the local market as well as they did before the bubble popped. And they know for a fact if they come in too high they will never get work again from the 3rd party referral company.

So they are coming in low. They want to work too.

And that is why getting an appraisal is so tricky these days.

We made it that way.

This week I received a surprising bill from my internet service provider (home usage).   $90 penalty!   I had exceeded my maximum download!   Never knew I was ever even close!   “What is this new here?” you ask?   Blame Amazon Video on Demand and Netflix.   So if you are a new user to these (or others like) services be prepared if your provider has a maximum download allowance.   I am in the process of moving my business to a provider that has no maximum for downloads, so check your usage to assure you are in a safe range and enjoy!

Have you noticed the strange symbol on the back of your REI catalog?   What are these odd looking squares?    These are QR codes.   How can they help you?   Well with the right scanning application on your iphone, android or blackberry you can scan the code below and go directly to the related website…no typing in the URL or doing a google search…you scan this thing and you are there.   Trust me, you will begin to see alot more of these everywhere for user ease of access and to increase the traffic to websites.   There are several scanning applications out there…I recommend Google Goggles.   When you are ready, practice on the code below and add it to your favorites!

fellow website operators…regardless of how simple your URL is, typing “www.anch…etc” for people using handheld devices is pretty tedious compared to scanning one of these codes.

My good friend Tim Simpson is a “decal/graphics artist extraordinaire”! Tim has a artistic flaire for graphic ideas and provides the service for a very fair price. (not to mention…he is a very nice guy!)  I used him for creating my QR decals and encourage your patronage for any decal/graphic solutions you may need to promote your business.   His email address is simmo222@gmail.com.

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