Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California
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Showing posts with label agent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agent. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

History of Realtor Boards and Multiple Listing Services by Mary Cummins Real Estate Broker, Appraiser

board of realtors, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, mls, multiple listing service, beverly hills, los angeles, california, history, real estate, sales, agent, department of real estate
board of realtors, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, mls, multiple listing service, beverly hills, los angeles, california, history, real estate, sales, agent, department of real estate

Real Estate is one of the largest industries in the United States. It began with the first land grants and settlers of the New World starting in the late 1400's. Many countries including Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden laid claim to the New World making and selling land grants. Over time individuals and speculators bought, sold and traded the land grants, plots and deeds. 

Originally there were handwritten land grants with vague land surveys using physical landmarks. They were recorded with the cities, counties or states as they formed. These were later also recorded in newspapers. The land grants were later replaced with grant deeds and surveyed numbered land plots with assessor numbers as the nation grew and government and real estate became more formalized and regulated. 

Back in the day anyone could become a real estate dealer. This led to some charlatans and con men becoming land swindlers. Everyone knows about people accidentally buying worthless swamp land in Florida or someone selling the same piece of land to multiple people. This gave the real estate industry a very bad image. A few in the industry decided to form Realty Associations in order to control who could deal in real estate and how properties were planned, built and transferred. 

The purpose of the first Realty Associations specifically the "Los Angeles Realty Board" was "to bring legitimacy to their profession, encourage cooperation and fellowship among real estate men, and use their collective power to create a more dynamic business environment for their industry."  The LA Realty Board was formed in 1903 in California. One of the founding members was William May Garland. By 1906 they had 217 members. 

Many of the later Boards were formed based on the same structure and mission as the LA Realty Board. I was a member of the Los Angeles Board of Realtors, Beverly Hills Board of Realtors and National Association of Realtors starting in 1983. The BH Board was incorporated in 1955. They ultimately merged with the LA Board and became the Greater Los Angeles Realtors (GLAR) in 1998. The state California Association of Realtors (CAR) was formed in 1998. 

Initially some of the various boards had their own MLS services. Later they joined forces and made larger MLS services such as CRMLS, CLAWMLS, THEMLS... The Combined Los Angeles/Westside (CLAW) MLS is a compilation of the listings of Realtor Board Members formed in 1995. You must be a licensed real estate agent and Realtor to join as an agent or broker to list properties on that MLS. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) was originally formed as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges in Chicago in 1908. 

Back in the day the Realty Board was in charge of who could be a real estate agent. There was no State Departments of Real Estate. Official real estate sales licenses didn't start until 1917 when the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) was first formed by the California legislature. DRE marked the formation of the first-ever Real Estate Law in the country. With this law, licensing practices and licensees were regulated in a manner which was emulated by many other states. 

Way back in the day non whites, blacks, women and more were not allowed to own real estate in the US. When they were later allowed to own real estate it was difficult to find people willing to sell them or help them buy real estate because of racism and segregation.  Many racist whites did not want to sell their property to blacks, Latinos...because of their false fear that the neighborhood would deteriorate, crime would increase and property values would decline. White fearmongers promoted this false narrative to make money selling real estate.

Back in the day Realtor Boards controlled who could become a Realtor. Blacks, women and others were not allowed. Blacks, Latinos ... were forced to start their own organizations because of segregation and racism. The oldest organizations were started by African Americans. The first groups were the The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) founded in 1947 and the Dearborn Realtist Board is the oldest African American Real Estate Trade Association founded in 1941 both in Chicago. NAR was opposed to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. NAR did not allow blacks to join until 1961. The fact that these non white organizations still exist show that they are still needed and wanted.  While there is still racism in our country and real estate things have improved but there is a long ways to go.

As the business of real estate became more organized a system was needed to facilitate those transactions. Back in the day properties were listed for sale in the local newspapers. The closed sales were also listed in the newspapers. Some newspapers had full real estate sections every day or just on Sundays. Some included black and white and later even color photos. They were essentially the first Multiple Listing Service. 

The Los Angeles Times was one of those early newspapers that listed those properties starting in 1881. At that same time real estate dealers, agents and offices would have print outs of all the properties they had offered for sale. They would post them at their offices on their windows besides in newspapers and real estate magazines around the country. They assembled them in three ring binders in their offices to show to prospective buyers and sellers. They would also exchange them with other real estate dealers whom they knew. 



Eventually a few large real estate offices got together and decided to print them in one local monthly magazine type book for more wide scale marketing and exposure. These were the first dedicated Multiple Listing Services type books. The NAR started offering this MLS service in the 1960's. These paper books were used up until 1994-2000. Below are a couple of pages from one of those books. When I was an agent then broker they came out every other week I think and were about an inch thick for Los Angeles.

board of realtors, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, mls, multiple listing service, beverly hills, los angeles, california, history, real estate, sales, agent, department of real estate

After around 1994 the data went digital with the advent of the common use of the Internet. First it was available via dial-up in real estate offices for text only. I used phone dial-up devices around 1984 to access the private intranet data, search by distinct computer codes then printed the listings out on dot matrix printers using continuous feed paper with the little holes on the side. Everything was later available fully online to Board and MLS members including photos. Later it was partially available to the general public as well. One still had to contact the listing agent to get access to the property and get all of the information to present an offer.

Today we have full home and property listings online which include lots of color photographs, diagrams, staged photos, plot plans, architectural renderings, videos and even 3-D tours. Nowadays you can search properties all over the world in different languages. You can even buy and sell the properties fully online as long as you get signatures notarized with proof of identification. We have definitely come a long way from land grands in old English cursive writing and newspaper ads.

Below is a sample list of active listings from an MLS search. Below that is a short detail listing of one property. None of these were any of my clients' properties.


board of realtors, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, mls, multiple listing service, beverly hills, los angeles, california, history, real estate, sales, agent, department of real estate


References:

The Promise and Principles of Real Estate Development in an American Metropolis:

LATimes.com various articles


Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.


Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin

DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Saturday, February 26, 2022

Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser, Resume, Curriculum Vitae, Biography, Los Angeles, California

Mary Cummins, resume, curriculum vitae, job history, real estate appraiser, Los Angeles, California, work history, biography, real estate appraisal, real estate, appraiser, appraisal
Mary Cummins, resume, curriculum vitae, job history, real estate appraiser, Los Angeles, California, work history, biography, real estate appraisal, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, marycumminscurriculumvitae

Curriculum Vitae

 

Abstract

Cummins is a bilingual Latino real estate appraiser born and raised in Los Angeles, California with over 38 years of experience. Cummins has appraised over 20,000 residential, multi-family, income, land, industrial, mixed-use properties and construction projects for lenders, AMCs, lawyers, relocation companies, banks and individuals. Cummins has passed the Department of Justice and SterlingBackcheck background checks multiple times. There has never been any complaint, claim or lawsuit against any license. A la mode Total software. Combined LA/Westside MLS member. E&O insurance $1,000,000 no claims.

Education 

  Beverly Hills High School 1982 - Dean's list, Swim Team, Water Polo

  University of Southern California 1984 - Dean's list, Swim Team, Scholarship

Licenses, Certifications

  Real Estate Sales License 1984

  Real Estate Brokers License 1986

  California Notary Public 1989

  Real Estate Appraisal License CertifiedResidential 1993 (First Mandatory 1994)

  HUD/FHA Approved Real Estate Appraiser 

Work Experience

  1984 Merrill Lynch Real Estate - Sales, Comparative Market Analysis

  1984 to present - Cummins Real Estate Services - Real Estate Appraisal, Sales

  1985 Apartment Owners Association - Commercial Brokerage Division

  1986 Forensis Group - Expert Witness

  1990 Westside Properties - Real Estate Appraisal, Sales. 100% office 

Selected Legal Cases

  1989 Schine vs Schine - Appraisal of Ambassador Hotel as land for development project with Donald Trump. Deposed.

  Various cases for Forensis Group 1986-2006

  2009 Union Pacific vs Jimmy Nasralla. Criminal. Court appearance.

  2010 Don Carstens vs JP Morgan. Civil. Deposed. Court appearance.

  2013 Narrative Appraisal for LA Metro Eminent Domain

Courts

  United States Bankruptcy Court California

  Los Angeles County Superior Court Civil

  Los Angeles County Superior Court Criminal

  Riverside County Superior Court Civil 

Selected Clients

  Crestview Financial

  Don Carstens, Attorney at Law

  Home Savings Bank

  Wells Fargo

  Chase Financial, Bank

  Forensis Group, Expert Witness

  Western Relocation Services 

Selected Professional Education 1,350+ hours

  1984 Lumbleau School of Real Estate - Real estate sales

  1984 to present - Various real estate schools: Expert Witness Testimony, Appraising Apartments, Oddball Appraisals, USPAP, FHA Appraising, Appraising Manufactured Homes, Environmental Issues for Appraisers, Fair Housing, LEED Real Estate, Foundations in Sustainability: Greening the Real Estate and Appraisal Industries, Review Appraisals, REO and Foreclosures, The Cost Approach.

  1985 Merrill Lynch - Real estate sales, CMA

  1986 Lumbleau School of Real Estate - Real estate broker – 8 College Courses

  1986 Apartment Owners Association - Income property evaluation and sales

  2014 2 - 4 Family Finesse 06167C167

  2014            The Sales Comparison Approach 14CP167303029

  2014            Understanding Residential Construction  14CP167303033

  2014 The Nuts and Bolts of Green Building for Appraisers 10167C114

  2014            Even Odder: More Oddball Appraisals 08167C181

  2014 Appraising FHA Today - Virtual classroom 06167C169

  2014            Laws and Regulations for California Appraisers 12167C163

  2014 2014-2015 7 hour National USPAP Update Course 13CP167303017

  2014            Appraising Manufactured Homes            11167C134

  2014            Land and Site Valuation 08167C187

  2014 Mortgage Fraud- Protect Yourself 08167C179

  2016 2016-2017 7 Hour National USPAP Update Course 15CP167303053

  2018 2018-2019 7- Hour Equivalent USPAP Update Course 1810000011

  2018            FHA Site Inspection for Appraisers 1610000007

  2018 California Laws and Regulations for Appraisers 1710000010

  2018            Mold A Growing Concern  1310000004

  2018            Appraising Energy Efficient Residential Properties 1710000008

  2018            Environmental Hazards Impact on Value 1210000001

  2018            Construction Details From Concept to Completion 1710000009

  2018            A Brief Historic Stroll Through America's Architectural Styles 1310000003

  2020 2020-2021 7-Hour Equivalent USPAP Update Course           2010000012

Selected Seminars, Webinars

  2020 California Preservation Foundation webinar: Learning from Large-Scale Adaptive Reuse Projects

  2021 HUD: Advancing Equity in the Home Valuation Process

  2021 Freddie Mac, Appraisal Institute: Property Valuation, Appraisal Bias, & Black Homeownership

  2021 ClearCapital: Does Your Appraisal Data Include Racial Bias?

  2021 HUD: National Fair Housing Training Academy, Collateral Damage: The Consequences of Racial Bias in the Residential Appraisal Process

  2021 Richard Hagar, SRA: Six-Part Appraiser Webinar series

  How to Determine Land Values, Even Where There Are No Sales

  Comparables: What to Use and What to Do When You Can't Find Any

  Why the Cost Approach is Valuable (and Helps You Earn Higher Fees)

  Easy Ways to Determine Condition Adjustments

  How a Regression Analysis Can Help Determine Adjustments

  Fighting Pressure and Intimidation

• 2021 Consumer Finance Protection Bureau: Home Appraisal Bias Event

• 2021 Fannie Mae: Racial Bias in Appraisals

• 2021 Appraisal Subcommittee Roundtable: Building a More Equitable Appraisal System

• 2021 George Dell; Peter Christensen, Attorney: How to Avoid Being Accused of Bias in Real Estate Appraisal

• 2022 Los Angeles Business Journal: Commercial Real Estate Symposium

• Appraisal Institute: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Webinar Series: Revealing Relevance for the Appraiser Profession
• Robert Keller: Bullet Proof Workfile Class

Selected Media

  1985 LA Times “People in Westside Real Estate” Cummins joins Merrill Lynch

  1990 LA Times “People in Westside Real Estate” Cummins joins Westside Properties

  2002 LA Times “Suggestions for the bidder whose offers are rejected”

  2006 Daily News “County relaxes restrictions on llamas, animal rehab”

  2007 LA Times “Historical Homes, not for everyone”

  2009 LA Weekly “Jimmy Nasralla finds a lawyer”

  2009 LA Weekly “Is LA City Attorney Trutanich screwing over the little guy?”

  2009 LA Weekly “Jimmy on the edge of town”

Awards

  2014 Los Angeles Business Journal, Latino Business Award

  2014 Los Angeles Business Journal, Women Making a Difference Award

  2020 GlobeSt. Women of Influence Award

Social Media 

  1992 Mary Cummins Real Estate website – Includes Real Estate Dictionary

  2000 Cummins Real Estate blog – Articles on Real Estate, Appraisal, Affordable Housing, Homeless, Housing Crisis, Celebrity Homes

  2010 Cummins Real Estate Services Facebook page

Task Forces, Committees

  2006 Los Angeles City Proposition F Committee – Oversaw construction of new animal shelters and fire stations with $500,000,000+ fund

Publications, Articles

  Main Reasons Home Loans are Denied

  How Condominium Home Owners Associations (HOA) are Organized and Operate

  How Real Estate Appraisers Measure and Calculate Size of a Home

  Race and Racism in Real Estate Appraisal

  Difficulties Finding a Real Estate Appraiser Mentor in California

  The History of Redlining in Home Lending

  How to Submit a Reconsideration of Value, Appeal

  Understanding the 1004P Hybrid Real Estate Appraisal

  One Cause of the Housing Crisis

  Causes of the Increase in Homelessness in Los Angeles

  Ideas to Help Solve the Housing Crisis

  Real Estate Cycles, Revitalization and “Gentrification”

  Notre Dame Cathedral fire shows how building structure affects susceptibility to fires

  Eminent Domain in California and Texas

  Donald Trump and the Ambassador Hotel Development Project

  Using Google Maps to Calculate a Driving Route for Real Estate Appraisers

  Using Google Maps to Get Rough Estimates of Building Size

  EB-5 Visa Renewal Program and Real Estate

  California Bill AB139 - Real Estate Transfers and Trusts

  Office to Housing Conversion is Not That Easy

  Appraisal Gap: What is it? What are the Causes?

  Different Types of Home Valuations

  Measuring, Describing Land Using Metes and Bounds, PLSS, Lot and Block and Parcel Numbers

Past, Present Organizations, Memberships

  USC Alumni Real Estate Network, AREN

  National Association of Real Estate Appraisers, NAREA

  Beverly Hills Board of Realtors, BHBR, now Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors, GLAR

  Los Angeles Board of Realtors, LABR, now Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors, GLAR

  California Association of Realtors, CAR

  Combined L.A./Westside MLS, CLAW

 Other Experience 

  Bilingual – English, Spanish

  PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone

  UAD, .pdf, .doc, .xml, .env, html, FTP, Power Point, FHA forms

  Approved by numerous Appraisal Management Companies

  MLS, Homeputer, a la mode, Total, AppraisalMAT, LoopNet, Carets

  Real estate photography, panoramas, scans, floor plans

  E&O insurance $1,000,000/$1,000,000

  Never had a real estate complaint, claim or lawsuit

  Perfect appraiser license record

  Passed full SterlingBackcheck background check multiple times

  Passed multiple DOJ background checks for professional licenses, gun permit

  Perfect driving record, type 100+ wpm

Mary Cummins Resume, Curriculum Vitae as pdf

http://www.marycummins.com/marycumminscurriculumvitae.pdf

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.


Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Thursday, August 29, 2019

1004P hybrid real estate appraisal report form analysis by Mary Cummins real estate appaiser

1004P appraisal form, report, 1004 p, mary cummins, real estate, appraisal, appraiser, los angeles, california, licensed, certified, cheap, affordable, 

UPDATE: 01/24/2021 1004P appraisals can now be used for more than just no cash out same bank refinances. Fannie Mae and others have agreed to accept bifurcated hybrid appraisals in some situations. 

01/02/2020 The original article was about the 1004P appraisal and the lender, investor, appraiser. I didn't talk about how it affects the homeowner trying to refinance. Obviously it can't be used for purchases as they are riskier.

Here's a good reason why a home owner should make sure they don't get a cheaper 1004P desktop appraisal. They can only be used for same bank refinance with no money out. If you want to take money out, use a different bank, get a second instead of refinancing the first, home is older, not in perfect condition, hasn't been sold on the MLS recently, large loan, hight LTV ratio, not the best credit, market is decreasing...you will need a regular 1004 appraisal. Lender charges borrower the same price for either one. Lender pockets more when they use a 1004P. Purpose of 1004P is so lender makes more money. It doesn't help the home owner who could end up having to pay for two appraisals. It also takes longer to have two appraisals. 

ORIGINAL: The 1004P hybrid appraisal report is a Fannie Mae real estate appraisal form and appraisal process. A licensed real estate agent or appraiser does the physical inspection of the subject property. Turns out that's not always the case today, 02/12/2022.  The AMC may send someone whom was only trained by a short prerecorded video online to do the inspection. They may not be a real estate expert, agent, appraiser or even someone who is at least licensed, bonded, insured or has passed a background check. You don't really want someone who hasn't passed a background check in your house, see article about home inspector and Elmo doll here

They measure/diagram the property, note materials/condition and take the photos of the subject to form their report. A licensed real estate appraiser takes that data, selects the appropriate comps and types up the finished appraisal. The appraisal clearly states that John Doe license # 12345 did the inspection, measured, took the photos and appraiser John Doe 2 license # 678910 completed the appraisal report.

When I first heard about the 1004P hybrid appraisal report I was skeptical for a few reasons. One, is a real estate agent qualified to inspect property for lending purposes? How would a real estate agent be able to recognize building and safety violations, be able to note condition of the home or even all of the materials? How well will they measure the home? Would it be legal gross living area or ANSI standardized measurements? Would their photos be good enough for the appraiser to see materials and condition? Two, how would one know if the inspection and photos are of the subject property? Three, can a proper appraisal be made using MLS comparable photos? That’s why I decided to research the 1004P.

Below is the actual 1004P appraisal form and the USPAP Compliance Addendum. As you can see the 1004P Appraiser’s Certification form states page five item 12 “I obtained the information, estimates, and opinions furnished by other parties and expressed in this appraisal report from reliable sources that I believe to be true and correct.” The USPAP Compliance Addendum clearly states who inspected the property, i.e. name, license number, E&O Insurance and who did not, i.e. the appraiser. The MLS photos used clearly have a stamp that says “CRMLS,” “TheMLS.”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Cpcr4YUWTc88ehXFfIHxRe9mvGxVCng/view?usp=sharing
I decided that I should do a sample 1004P report. I’m not posting that report as I have a horrible cyber stalker who loves to forge documents. I had to add a hidden seal to all my docs for that reason.
This is what I’ve learned from doing an actual 1004P report.

The inspection report, sketch, measurements and photos give the appraiser enough information to satisfactorily complete the appraisal report as long as there aren't hard to see major issues with the home. I’ve found the inspectors take way more pics than necessary. They take a few pics per room instead of just one. They take up close pics of the materials. The photos are large and detailed so you can zoom in if there are any doubts. Of course the appraiser is assuming the photos are true and correct representations of the actual home. 

The measurements don’t always equal the tax roll due to unpermitted additions or mistakes e.g. adding area of stairs. Same happens when I inspect. I only include the legal permitted gross living area, bed/bath in my report anyway.

The materials in the written inspection report aren’t always correct but it doesn’t matter. An agent wrote “wood siding” when it’s actually “shingle siding” which I can clearly see in the pic. I report what I see in the pic. The underwriter can see the material in the pic anyway in case the agent or appraiser made a mistake.

The inspection report and photos give enough information to see if they are of the subject or not. So far all 1004P have been ordered for homes which sold recently on the MLS. You have MLS photos, data, public tax data, permit data to compare to the inspection photos and report to verify. This is true for all cases unless the current owner did a full remodel. Then I check with permits. If I were to do a drive-by appraisal or exterior only appraisal, I don’t get to inspect the interior or receive any interior photos. The 1004P gives a lot more data than regular exterior only inspections though not as much as a full inspection appraisal.

MLS comparable photos can be sufficient if they match Google street view photos. So far I haven’t come across MLS pics that don’t match Google street view doing 1004P. I have seen other MLS photos where they photoshop dirt into grass, cut out high tension power lines or just use an architect rendering program photo. If I were to see that, I would use Google street view photo instead and note it in the report. In a regular report we are only taking street view pics of the comps anyway as of the date of our appraisal and not the date of the sale of the comp. We don’t know if interior photos are real or not as it is.

After my analysis I believe that 1004P appraisals are good enough to use for lending purposes in certain situations. Those situations would be easy appraisals of newer average tract homes and condos that have sold more recently on the MLS. They would also be inspected by a licensed real estate appraiser, agent, broker who is insured and had a full background check. I don’t think they should be used for more difficult assignments where there would be more lender risk. Those assignments would be large custom homes, homes in C4 condition or worse, homes with any unusual conditions, some view homes, luxury quality homes or very old homes i.e. 80 years plus. I believe those homes and properties should be appraised by a licensed real estate appraiser who has personally physically inspected the property.

One thing appraisers should consider is that they are fully liable for the report no matter what. It doesn't matter who did the inspection and took the photos. It doesn't matter that the report states someone else inspected the property. By signing the report you are stating you had sufficient information to complete a credible appraisal. Per USPAP "If the appraiser does not have sufficient information to complete a credible appraisal, they must refuse the assignment." You can't rely on the inspector, their measurements or photos. You will be legally liable if they made a mistake or committed fraud. 

If you don't feel the inspector or the MLS comps have provided accurate enough information, you must do your own research. You may have to look at all permits for the subject and comps, property history, all previous MLS listings ... to try to verify something. The inspector may have missed obvious signs of major problems with the property. Maybe you can't see the issues in the photos but you would have seen it during an inspection because of your years of training and experience. Those issues could be major uneven floors, one room at a higher level than adjoining room, holes in rear yard, damp smelling basement, burned smelling attic... I could see people perpetrating fraud via one of these appraisals just like they do with drivebys, regular desktops, AVMs and waivers. 

Here's a 2019 article by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) titled "Illinois Board Issues Warning on Hybrid Appraisals" about liability and abiding by USPAP. They feel hybrid appraisals could be a violation of USPAP because an unlicensed person is providing "significant appraisal assistance." Illinois believes it's a violation of USPAP if the inspector provides the measurements, room count, condition, quality ... to the appraiser.

The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) stated that a hybrid appraisal in and of itself is not a violation of USPAP. They stated it's okay for another party to provide the inspection information if it is only known facts but the Appraiser is liable for that data. If the inspector provides condition, quality "opinions," they need to be a licensed appraiser. If the Appraiser doesn't feel the data provided is credible, the Appraiser must obtain the data in another acceptable manner or withdraw from the assignment. 

Every state has their own license requirements beyond the federal regulations. It will be up to the states to determine if hybrid appraisals are a violation of state regulations as they control and enforce licenses. 


Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the
Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit