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October 16, 2022 Woody Fincham, SRA, AI-RRS, ASA, RAA Member of RAC How Real Estate Appraisers look at Market Analysis To borrow a phrase from my friend, the real estate market has come to that, “Oh Shift!” time again. Nationally markets are tapering and changing. The Federal Reserve has caused quite the change in the market with the interest rate hikes. The local markets that we service are all experiencing a shift, but it has been an odd shift, unlike any that I have every seen in my two decades in the business. While rates have gone up, much of Central Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley has ..read more

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Chicago It has been way too long since my last in-person class.  I am on the plane returning to my home and reflecting on the experience from a class on December 11, 2021.  Being an instructor, I am very happy when I am in the classroom, but this one was special. It is always great to see colleagues, especially after so many months away from the experience. The room was full of many local Chicago area appraisers as well as several Appraisal Institute instructors auditing the course.  With Sandra Adomatis, SRA, the incoming Vice-President for 2022, and Craig Steinley, MAI, SRA, t ..read more

08/30/2021 As real estate appraisers we can have some tough assignments.  It can be a tough job, that if you practice ethically, can take a toll on you.  Folks are often upset, with compliments coming few and far between most especially in mortgage use transactions. With that in mind, I wanted to start sharing some stories, some from me and hopefully, many from you, my readers that showcase some of the positives that we see and participate in as real property valuers.  I am calling this series Real Value.  A few days ago, my last appointment was a tough one.  I was doi ..read more

In light of the recent, or rather ongoing, attacks on several members and staff at the Appraisal Institute (AI), I wanted to offer some perspective on the accusations and conjecture that has been offered over the last couple of weeks.  As the author of these blogs is an appraiser, and this deals with the largest real property valuation organization in the country, I thought it may be apropos to style this blog after an appraisal review.  While the main premise of this blog deals with a serious subject, applying it to an appraisal review will let us look at using our appraisal analysi ..read more

I was invited onto Tim Andersen’s podcast recently. I hope you enjoy it. https://theappraisersadvocate.com/2020/04/02/going-green-with-woody-fincham-taa-podcast-025 ..read more

The author responds and updates information regarding The Appraisal foundation.  Incorporation by reference is the major premise of what Mr. Bagott is writing about and in this update, he is looking at the Texas Railroad Commission.  While not specific to the valuation profession it is yet another instance of the public sector grabbing private documents and placing them into regulations and codes.   The press release form Mr. Bagott starts below: Jeremy Bagott, MAI, AI-GRS Author contact: BOIpublishingco@gmail.com   *** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***   AGENCY’S TEXAS TWO-ST ..read more

This was just sent over to me. Mr. Bagott, the author of the book that exposes the odd salary information for the president of The Appraisal Foundation, David Bunton. I will add to the oddity of this week by disclosing that someone from Mr. Bunton’s staff called me Tuesday and essentially gave me a dressing down for posting the information that I had at that juncture. Once again, I am not trying to denigrate Mr. Bunton, I am just asking about the transparency of the organization and the use of public monies and monies collected from the appraisers that must pay for the standards that they foll ..read more