Tim Andersen, The Appraiser's Advocate Podcast

Topics such as USPAP and relevant adjustments can bring out the very worst in appraisers, because of the arguments this topic causes.  This is simply because the science of relevant adjustments is taught only superficially in appraisal school.  Yet we teach it is art, or we do not teach at all.  This podcast is about understanding when adjustments are necessary.  Then its  about understanding why...

In this podcast, we cover three topics, all of which are a function of USPAP and certainty.  The first topic is “When is an Adjustment Correct?”  Second is “What are the Ethics of Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a Real Estate Appraisal and Report?”  Finally, we’ll consider the real source of appraisal fees – the appraiser.  That should get some folks upset...

When it comes to USPAP and a verification model, where is that model?  USPAP makes it clear we have to verify the sales data, etc.  But USPAP is strangely silent on what to verify means.  It is equally mute on how to accomplish the verification it demands.  So, is there a reason for this lack of communication on USPAP’s part?  Or, is there some method to the ASB’s madness?  To both que...

Wait a minute!  You say USPAP and neighborhood analysis don’t go together?  In one sense, you’re right.  USPAP does not use the word neighborhood in Standard 1 or 2.  For reasons unknown, the GSEs continue to use the word neighborhood ,  even though, in a certain context, it could have racist overtones.  Seems a little hypocritical to me.  But the GSEs have not asked me to function as...

Take advantage of USPAP and Extraordinary Assumptions!  Their proper use can provide you with a number of advantages!  On the other hand, their improper use can earn you the opportunity to spend a less-than-pleasant afternoon with your state appraisal board !  How so?  Read on, then listen to the podcast !  To listen to the podcast is why you’re here, right? USPAP and Extraordinary Assumptio...

To have a podcast on The Cost Approach and USPAP .  How exciting (not)!  You’re right.  This is not exactly the conversation you’ll have when you get together with friends.  Even if those friends are other appraisers!  But the point is the cost approach is an untapped resource.  It is the sunshine to which appraisers typically do not expose their analytics.  This is a shame, really, si...

When it comes to USPAP and state complaints , what is an appraiser to do?  The first step is really clear:  don’t do anything – yet.  Why?  Simply because you are in an emotionally unstable state.  You’ve just been attacked personally by some stranger who has absolutely no clue how hard you work!  You want to retaliate – to strike back fast and destructively.  To scorch you...

USPAP , Cows, and Competency?!  Never in your life did you think you’d see that as the tagline of an appraisal podcast , right?  I did not, either.  But sometimes you have to change the way you look at things.  Sometimes there has to be a little disruption to understand even more deeply what you think you already understand.  That’s what we are going to do here. USPAP, Cows, and Compet...

USPAP and Questions to Tim was the only title I could invent for this podcast .  After all, there is not one theme here.  Rather this podcast consists of questions that have come in to me in the past from regulators, students, and boots-on-the-ground appraisers.  Every so often, I’ll work on answering them.  Most of the questions are polite, thoughtful, even respectful.  Some of them are&#82...

When it comes to USPAP and MARKETING, what do you need to know?  First, that USPAP says nothing about marketing.  That’s business. USPAP does not concern itself with your appraisal business.  But USPAP is clear about what we can market.    Every license renewal cycle, we get 28 or more hours of continuing education .  How efficient are appraisers at marketing our level of practical education...

“USPAP and That Does Not Solve the Problem” is a strange title for a podcast right?  But it has a purpose.  In a past podcast, I showed a list of what you were not supposed to say to your state appraisal board .  Clearly, not a lot of appraisers paid attention to this.  How do I know?  Because the dumb stuff real estate appraisers still say to their state boards keeps coming into me. ...

USPAP and Cash Equivalency?  No!  Surely, with all the mechanics of an appraisal there are to worry about, now there is another one!?  Say it ain’t so!  It would be nice simply to ignore cash equivalency (since, after all, there is math involved).  But the definition of Market Value dictates otherwise.  USPAP dictates otherwise [see SR1-2(c)(i-iv)].  The GSE’s sales guides, etc. dictat...

USPAP and the investigator’s questions is a topic we’ve covered before.  But investigators still keep asking questions.  So it makes sense to be aware of them, as well as how to answer them.  That raises the question, “How do I answer the investigator’s questions?”.  There is a two-part answer:  part one is “from the data in your workfile”.  Part two is &#...

USPAP and the last time?  What does that mean?  When you listen to the podcast you’ll find out. USPAP and the last time asks a series of questions.  These ask you about the last time you considered an appraisal concept or idea.  This is important simply because appraisals have too many moving parts.  It is way too easy to get caught in the details and the mechanics of an appraisal and apprai...

USPAP and adjustments.  Are they facts or just your opinion?  USPAP does not use the word adjust or adjustments in Standard One, the appraisal development standard, nor Standard Two, the appraisal reporting standard.  Further, USPAP does not require appraisers to make them to anything at any time.   They are a function of what the GSE’s want from an appraisal report. So, when it comes to USP...

“USPAP and my client’s demands” is a statement that has different meanings to different appraisers, in different contexts.  Sometimes a client’s demands are completely doable.  In other words, complying with them still allows you to comply with the USPAP and its ETHICS RULE .  On the other hand, clients still assume they can direct an appraiser to violate USPAP.  We appraisers do not like th...

Does USPAP demand precision ?  This is a question few appraisers have raised, so there is no specific answer to it. USPAP itself uses the word precision just once, in AO-23, but in the context of a discounted cash flow analysis.  It uses precise only four times.  But only one of those is in Standard 1.  None of them is in Standard 2.  And its use in Standard 1 is in the context of a precise defini...

We call this one USPAP, Transformative Appraisals, and the Public Trust .  Actually, this podcast is not USPAP oriented at all.  I have to include USPAP for SEO purposes.  However, the issues of transformative appraisals and the public trust are the orientation of this podcast. Typically, appraisers do not equate USPAP, transformative appraisals, and the public trust .  But that is unfortunate.  B...

There is so much writing in an appraisal report!  So, what does an appraiser do when it comes to USPAP and clear & persuasive appraisal reports?  Thanks for asking!  Please keep reading, too! It is no secret appraisers are not trained writers. But USPAP and clear & persuasive appraisal report are not an appraisal requirement, are they?  Do  you remember all that report writing you did in a...

To answer those USPAP and Whatever questions usually means going to USPAP to get an answer.  Really, where else would you go?  USPAP is not a difficult document to read.  What affects us appraisers directly is really in the first twenty-four pages.  So, in practicality, the document is not all that long.  Its brevity is both a strength and a weakness.  Its strength is that it does not get bogged d...

Appraisers have asked me about USPAP and bracketing.  What they want to know is if it is really possible to bracket every difference there is between a subject and its comparables?  Spoiler alert:  the short answer is “NO!”.  Unfortunately, the long answer is “NO!”, too.   To derive an adjustment via bracketing is just as effective and practicably applicable as is paired-sa...

USPAP and breathing dust should conjure up leaders breathing fresh air, while the followers breathe the leader’s dust.  So far, we appraisers have chosen to follow when it comes to what the AMCs and lending industry mistakenly call “appraisal modernization”.   Without question, real estate needs to come into the 21st century.  But why did appraisers choose not to lead this assaul...

USPAP and all information necessary comes right out of SR1-4.  But now is the time to learn what “…all information necessary to credible assignment results…” really means.  The USPAP document itself does a poor job of explaining it.  Our 7-hour USPAP update classes do not even begin to explain this topic.  And that’s a shame.  If more appraisers were familiar with it,...

USPAP and growing a pair?  Really?!  Isn’t that a bit risque’ for a YouTube real estate appraisal education post?  Yet, it is.  But it caught your attention, didn’t it?  That’s the purpose.  To make you stop and think.   So let’s consider this. USPAP and growing a pair means, in one sense, getting enough courage.  Enough courage to do what?  Courage to grow a pair and...

“USPAP – It Ain’t Binary” is a phrase you’ve never heard before.  Why?  Well, it is not binary.  Seldom in real estate appraisal is anything purely a one (-1-) or a zero (-0-).  We have choices to make.  There are ambiguities to unravel.  What happens when we get conflicting data from the listing broker and the selling broker?  County data say the subject has 3,327 sq...