http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ – Attention Real Estate Appraisers: Inman News Article Out Today: Wanted: ‘Credible’ Appraisals

In my email this morning is a new Inman News article regarding home appraisals. Here’s a snippet from the email:

“It’s the hottest topic in real estate today: The Home Valuation Code of Conduct, or HVCC, is so hot that it’s not just inflammatory. It’s on fire.

The HVCC is a new set of appraisal-related practices that lenders must follow with respect to loans they want to sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These new practices are intended to reduce the incidence of appraisal fraud and prevent inappropriate pressure being placed on appraisers to inflate home valuations in home purchase and loan refinance transactions.”

http://www.fhaappraisersbatonrouge.com/ – Greater Baton Rouge FHA Appraiser Tip: I Told You FHA Was On The Way To Imploding

It was about 1.5 years ago that I starting saying that we the U.S. Taxpayers would be bailing out FHA. After the mortgage meltdown, when FHA became the “Savoir” of the mortgage market, I began to receiving an increase in calls from the same slimy national mortgage brokers that I had already turned down doing appraisal work for because they seemed to always need $10,000 to $20,000 more than the homes were worth. They didn’t want home appraisals; they wanted a target value hitter. EXCEPT, NOW THEY WERE USING FHA LOANS FOR THEIR DIRTY (UPSIDE DOWN) LOANS. I knew then and there that FHA was in for problems.

From Appraisal Scoop, FHA, Active Rain, Inman News and the list goes on and on….Now the flood of news since yesterday reveals rumblings within FHA that losses are increasing and that FHA is implementing Appraisal Standards similar to HVCC. This is and will get more interesting as time progresses. Remember what I said above about the “slimy mortgage brokers”? Why is FHA reacting with stricter appraisal policy when it’s the slimy mortgage brokers that are wolves wearing sheep’s clothing? I’m not saying that ALL mortgage brokers are “slimy” or unethical. I have worked with reputable mortgage brokers and still do to a more limited extents these days.

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com – Greater Baton Rouge Among Four Louisiana Housing Markets Named Nation’s Best For Real Estate In September 2009

On Wednesday, September 9, 2009, the Baton Rouge Business Report and Local Market Monitor reported that four (4) Louisiana housing markets were ranked among the nation’s best real estate markets. Here’s a snippet:

“A new report says Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Monroe are four of the U.S. real estate markets expected to perform the best in the upcoming year. Local Market Monitor, which produces the Home Price Forecast for more than 300 cities, says home values should remain level in those cities over the next 12 months. Officials with Local Market say home prices in those cities are lower than the national average, and the effects of the recession have been slight. Baton Rouge, in particular, has continued to add jobs. The markets expected to do the worst include places where there were spikes in home prices and where speculative buying got out of hand, such as Las Vegas, Miami and Modesto, Calif.”

Source: Baton Rouge Business Report PM

http://www.fhaappraisersbatonrouge.com/ – FHA Appraisers Baton Rouge Reports On AMC LREC Leglislation Recently Passed.

The most recent issue of the Louisiana Real Estate Commissions, “Boundary Lines” (Volume 43, No. 2) reports on Approved AMC (Appraisal Management Company) Leglislation. The highlights are presented below from their newsletter I received on 9/3/2009.

http://www.batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Video: Is East Baton Rouge Really Doing As Well As Reported In Terms Of Foreclosures?   Watch This Video And You Be The Judge!   Please Take A Moment To Comment About This Video Below.