Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Monday, January 9, 2023

Cancel Culture is Destroying Freedom of Speech on Important Issues by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

mary cummins, real estate appraiser, appraiser, appraisal, real estate,real estate appraisal, los angeles, california, racism, cancel culture, bias, black, white, freedom of speech

If someone does something racist, they should be called out and educated. If a police officer murders a black man, they should be arrested and tried in a court of law. If someone just talks about these issues, they shouldn't be attacked, sued, have their business ruined, reputation destroyed, be harassed, threatened and assaulted. It doesn't make any sense. It harms freedom of speech, promotes racism and destroys any chance at public discourse of the issues.

Lizzo took a moment on a Sunday morning to share her concerns about cancel culture.“This may be a random time to say this but it’s on my heart.. cancel culture is appropriation,” Lizzo tweeted on Sunday (Jan. 8).“There was real outrage from truly marginalized people and now it’s become trendy, misused and misdirected,” she wrote. Lizzo continued: “I hope we can phase out of this & focus our outrage on the real problems.”

People are more upset about people talking about racist issues than the actual racism, race violence and hate crimes. People are more upset about someone stating facts about the false narrative of the racist appraiser than they are about real racism against blacks, the wealth gap or the fact that blacks, Latinos have little generational wealth. We appraisers can't even talk about the issue without being attacked, harassed on social media, getting false negative business reviews, death threats or threats of physical harm. Appraisers can't even comment on articles about the false narrative of the "racist appraiser" or we'll be viciously attacked. In fact some appraisers, AMCs and lenders have piled on to the false narrative in order to garner praise, seem woke, appear to be doing something about racism, get business, positive press and to not be attacked over the same issues. Some lenders have even used this issue to rip off POC by luring them in with promises of no racism only to charge them higher rates which is racist.

The real issue here is the income and related wealth gap between whites and POC. Because POC make less money, they have less money and wealth including generational wealth. Because they have less money and wealth, they buy and own less expensive homes in less expensive areas. The cause of the difference in value between white and black, brown owned homes is not the fault of the real estate appraiser. The data used in these misleading articles didn't even come from appraisers or appraisals but flawed automated valuation methods, robots, software programs by failed Zillow. The real problem is the income gap. Tell politicians and the government to fix the income gap. Assaulting real estate appraisers will never fix the problem.

Someone on Twitter stated in response to Lizzo's tweet, "Jessica Ballinger @BallingerMom Replying to @lizzo

Absolutely ❤️ There are very real issues that warrant outrage… I sometimes wonder if cancel culture stems from people feeling impotent against those bigger issues, so they go after simpler targets to feel better about themselves, like they did something."

I can understand the feeling of wanting to do something about racism but harming an innocent bystander is wrong. If someone sees racism against POC by white people, that doesn't give them the right to beat up and kill any white skinned person they see. That's just as racist as the racism they say they hate. It's also hypocritical.

In this situation by forcing real estate appraisers to shut up about the false "racist appraiser" narrative they are destroying freedom of speech and any public discourse on the issue. Instead the public only sees the misleading articles about specific cases in the media which are false. The media now writes these articles to get more outrage, traffic to sell more ads. One media will share the article by another media to make money off ads.

I've written about some of those cases here. The homeowners weren't low balled due to the fact they were black and the appraiser was white. The homeowners weren't even low balled in the specific cases I reviewed here. The specific properties were appraised using the closest most similar sold comparables. They were all near the edges of more valuable but very different neighborhoods. They were worth less than homes in the next neighborhood for very good reasons. The homeowners just wanted their homes to be worth more and were maybe misled by Zillow, RedFn and other robot "Zestimates."

I really hope in 2023 appraisers will be allowed to write articles about these issues or at least comment on articles without being so viciously attacked that they have to delete their comments or only comment anonymously. That doesn't help anyone. It just perpetuates racism and hatred against white appraisers.

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.

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Friday, January 6, 2023

"Appraisers the Convenient Scapegoats," comment by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

appraisersblogs, appraisers the convenient scapegoats,appraisersblogs, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal,los angeles,california,aei, american enterprise institute, hud,racial discrimination,poc,andre perry

Great article, "Appraisers the Convenient Scapegoats." It's happening yet again as home prices decrease. American Enterprise Institute (AEI) just warned the public in a December 2022 report "Government lending policies are encouraging lower-wealth, cash-constrained homeowners to give up their valuable current low-rate mortgages and use cash-out refinances to meet other financial obligations. This use of “the house as an ATM” particularly during this rising mortgage rate environment can pose inherent risks for borrowers."

And who will be blamed when these people refinance then can't afford the new payment because of the recessionary economy? Appraisers...again! We were blamed for the Great Recession aka Great Financial Crisis. Today they say that was actually because of "racial discrimination by appraisers."

These people are intentionally misinterpreting statistics. Yes, POC are more likely to lose their homes in foreclosure but it's not the fault of appraisers. It's a fact POC make less income than whites. People with less money buy less expensive homes. Politicians should fix the income inequality if they really care about POC. They won't because that's too hard and it's easier to blame appraisers. Because of income inequality POC have less wealth, fewer assets, higher debt and no generational wealth. They generally put a low down payment with the help of government loans. They were also encouraged by the government to get student loans to "get an education to increase income and wealth" which hasn't worked. They just ended up more in debt. The government is actually the one making these people more poor by causing them to lose what little money they have.

When these people refinance, they take out and spend all their home equity while increasing their monthly payment sometimes above their ability to easily repay it. The government even tells them it's a great way to get rid of expensive credit card debt which encourages more credit card debt. Values go down and they owe more than the home is worth. When you have no emergency savings, other assets, home equity and have an emergency, you will lose your home in foreclosure.

It's not the fault of appraisers! Politicians, other say these lies to win votes and support from POC and low income people. They created this non existent racial problem just so they can say "I alone can fix it." They hire like minded people to run HUD and other government programs. These people encourage and spread the false "government backed" narrative. They promote Andre Perry's fake "paper" about racial disparity in home ownership. Years back we were just "deal killers." Now we're all allegedly "racists."

The "racist old white male real estate appraiser" is a false narrative. The public doesn't seem to realize the real correlation between race and home valuation is race = income = wealth = value of home you can afford to buy and own. It's not race = home value made by racist old white male appraiser. The causation of the value of black, brown owned homes is INCOME and not RACE as proven by independent research by AEI and others. Same goes with cars. More white people own expensive cars than black, brown for same reason. Maybe they should blame Kelly Blue Book for the difference in values between a mint 2022 Rolls Royce and a 1985 Ford Escort in poor condition with 300,000 miles. Maybe Kelly Blue Book should be called a RACIST instead of a software program. The data people cite in this case didn't even come from old white male appraisers. It's a software program that doesn't know race or color. People just prefer to believe their house is worth less only because of a racist old white male appraiser. If people want to fix the problem, fix the income gap between white and black, brown. Attacking appraisers doesn't solve the problem. #realestateappraiser #falsenarrative #homevalue #homevaluation #realestateappraisal #race #income #wealth #generationalwealth

Cummins Real Estate Services, American Enterprise Institute, #appraisersblogs #marycummins #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #AEI #HUD #appraisers #discrimination

Mary Cummins

Sunday, December 11, 2022

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Sussexes did not use a different home to look wealthier by Mary Cummins

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, the Sussexes, home, house, montecito, california, rockridge, mary cummins,real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, netflix, movie, series

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Rockridge, the Sussexes, home, house, montecito, california, rockridge, mary cummins,real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, netflix, movie, series

I thought I wrote an article here about the Sussexes home in Montecito but it's gone. It's public knowledge it's Rockbridge, Montecito, California. They bought it mid 2020 for $14,650,000. It sold 2009 for $29,000,000. It was marked down from $34,000,000 in 2020. It's clearly worth more than what they paid for it plus they upgraded it. There has been a lot of appreciation since June 2020 in 2.5 years. They did not use a different house for the show to try to look wealthier. Their home is bigger, nicer and probably worth more than the other home. They didn't want to disturb their family life, security and privacy.

https://www.tmz.com/2022/12/11/prince-harry-meghan-markle-mansion-netflix-documentary-not-their-home/

This is the home where the Netflix series was shot, 888 Lilac Dr, Montecito, California. It was built 2006 on about 2 acres, 13,599 sf, 6 bed, 6.2 baths. listed at $33,500,000. It's been on the market 473 days which means it's probably over priced.

https://www.compass.com/listing/888-lilac-drive-montecito-ca-93108/858159209087806745/

Sussexes house 7** Rockbridge, Montecito, California built 2003 on 5.3 acres, 14,563 sf, 9 bed, 13 baths, listed at $34,000,000 in June 2020. They are three miles apart equidistant from the ocean and main road. The Sussexes house is most likely worth more because it's larger on a lot over twice as large.

Mary Cummins

Monday, October 24, 2022

ABC Will be Airing False, Misleading "Our America: Lowballed" December 2022 by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

UPDATE: Here is link to full video I believe. I have seen the program. https://abc7news.com/video/embed/?pid=12499947

ORIGINAL WRITTEN BEFORE THE SHOW AIRED: Appraisers need to be ready to counter this false and misleading series from ABC titled "Our America: Lowballed" coming in December by Julian Glover. Glover is the self proclaimed "race reporter" for ABC7. Read the pitch on this page linked below. It says white appraisers "lowball" and "rob" Blacks and Latinos. They say it's based on ABC's research but it's actually based on Andre Perry's false error filled non peer reviewed paper. People with less money buy less expensive homes! Blacks and Latinos have less money because of the income gap! Appraisers aren't lowballing the public! Fix the income gap!

This is reckless journalism at its worst. I've emailed Julian Glover the truth with evidence many times but he's not interested in facts. He's only interested in hate filled sensationalist articles. I doubt he interviewed any appraisers for the series. I also contacted Maxine Waters' office trying to set up a meeting but she refused. I contacted Marcia Fudge as well about the inaccuracies in her reports and statements. No reply.

The pitch shows they will not be stating the truth or using independent statistics like American Enterprise Institute. Andre Perry's paper used inaccurate Zillow statistics! AEI debunked Perry's "research." ABC is doing this for ratings to sell advertising for money. Julian Glover is doing it for self promotion. He's covered a couple of these stories in California and asks people to send in related tips. Below is the link to a pitch they sent to a real estate website manager asking them to promote their false and misleading narrative https://appraisersblogs.com/lowballed-it-is-open-season-on-appraisers

This is ABC's false narrative. '"Our America: Lowballed" follows Black and Latino families as they fight for fair home values after lower than expected appraisals. ABC's 18-month long investigation explores appraisal discrimination and solutions to a problem potentially costing families billions in equity.'

The show covers cases which I have researched in great detail. Research by a real estate appraiser with almost 40 years of experience shows there was no lowballing or discrimination in these cases. The homes were appraised for market value based on similar local sales. The show covers the following cases I covered. I recognized the people. There was another person I didn't recognize and they don't list the properties. I'll try to find out and post it later.

Paul and Tenisha Austin v Miller lawsuit 20 Pacheco, Marin, California

Carlette Duffy, Indianapolis, Indiana

I think it includes the story about Cora Robinson and her daughter which Julian Glover and I covered.

In the video: Vice President Kamala Harris, Andre Perry, Maxine Waters, Paul & Tenisha Austin, Marcia Fudge, Carlette Duffy. When it comes to the issue of real estate appraisers lowballing all of these people are not telling the truth. Andre Perry's research was busted by American Enterprise Institute. I researched Marcia Fudge's false story about being lowballed herself which she restates in this series. She was comparing her much older lower quality ranch home to a totally new development across the highway. Carlette Duffy is crying in the video. Did nobody bother to research the fact that she's cried racial discrimination in the past in a lawsuit against the government and lost? The linked article above proves the original appraisal was correct in Duffy's case. Her house was a burned out shell that someone did a quick redo when it should have been demolished.

All real estate appraisers need to speak out before, during and after this misleading series is released. I know it's difficult because you will be attacked. You will be called a "racist" just for commenting "hello." It would be safer to use a nom de plum so they don't attack your home, family and business.

#ouramericalowballed #julianglover #ABC #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #discrimination #bias #hud #kamalaharris #marciafudge #paulaustin #tenishatate #carletteduffy #andreperry #maxinewaters #realestate #appraisal #appraiser #lowball #fanniemae #freddiemac

Mary Cummins

Saturday, October 22, 2022

Dia de Muertos Celebration Grand Park Los Angeles October 22, 2022 by Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Dia de Muertos,Grand Park, Los Angeles, California, October 22, 2022, altaras, ofrendas, real estate appraiser, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, folklorico dancing, las catrinas mariachi

Mary Cummins, Dia de Muertos,Grand Park, Los Angeles, California, October 22, 2022, Day of the Dead, altars, ofrendas, real estate appraiser, real estate, appraiser, appraisal, folklorico dancing, las catrinas mariachi

Tenth 10th Annual Dia de Muertos celebration at Grand Park 200 N Grand Ave, Los Angeles, California 90012. It was between Grand Ave and Hill St. between 1st and 2nd St. Below is the event schedule for opening day October 22, 2022. Las Catrinas Mariachi Band and Grupo Folklorico Huitzillin & Teatro Aztlan were there along with poetry reading, sugar skull decorating, Dia de Muertos face painting and a few booths. This was also the 10th Anniversary of Grand Park. It was the Grand Avenue Arts All Access

Below are a few photos and videos of the event. @mariachilascatrinas
Event information: https://grandparkla.org/event/grand-parks-downtown-dia-de-los-muertos-2022/

Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos honors people, places and ideas that merit reverence and commemoration. Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos is a community-oriented space inviting park-goers to contribute to the community altar, ideated by artist and educator Consuelo Flores and to stroll through the park viewing numerous altars made by professional artists and local organizations. Additional public programs and activities on the opening day to include, poetry reading by Women Who Submit and Luis Rodriguez, musical performance by Las Catrinas Mariachi Band, dance performance by Grupo Folklorico Huitzillin with Teatro Aztlan, sugar skull decorating with East Los Sweets and colorful chalk art with KDaze Art. Plus professional face painting with Color Me Face Painting.

"Curator’s Statement

By Consuelo G. Flores

Los Angeles is comprised of different communities with rich, impactful histories and cultural contributions. What you’ll see as you walk through Grand Park are exquisite threads that create tapestries that focus on legacies, families, and the beauty of our diverse Latino community.

Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead at Grand Park, offers Los Angelenos and city visitors the opportunity to interact with an intimate and important component of the celebration – the ofrendas/altars. Each installation gives the viewer a glimpse of the person(s) being remembered, who they were in life, what was important to them, what brought them passion, what their impact was on those still living and especially how they were loved. As you visit with each ofrenda, perhaps you can imagine sharing a cup of coffee or a sip of tea or getting a good book, movie or play recommendation from those who are being remembered.

Each altar is dedicated to people like you or me or someone we know, who lived, loved, and became part of our community. Sometimes they were here for a long time, sometimes for a short time – but always an impactful, memorable time.

As you interact with and learn from each ofrenda, remember what the Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead celebration is in three simple tenets: