APRIL  2012
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A PRIORTY AT ELLIOTT®

As an appraisal management company, ELLIOTT® & Company Appraisers takes pride in its customer service. Whether clients call our toll-free number or order online, they can count on superior customer service from the moment the appraisal is ordered until the final version of it is delivered. Our nationwide service includes an online tracking system, where the progress and status of an order can be checked seven days a week, 24 hours per day, through the company’s website.

When problems arise, as they inevitably do in our unique industry, we do our best to solve them quickly and professionally. We are proud of the technology we have incorporated to handle 21st century appraisal management, but we also understand there has yet to be an invention that can take the place of a caring, informed human personality. With more than three decades in the real estate appraisal business, ELLIOTT® makes sure all of its customer service representatives are educated in the needs of its clients, as well as its appraisers, and how to offer these unique customers solutions designed to meet their needs.

INVESTORS ARE BUYING HOMES IN LARGE QUANTITIES
The current nature of the economy has entrepreneurs buying homes in bulk at low prices. Michelle Conlin, in an article she wrote for Reuters, called the phenomenon of purchasing homes in such vast quantities, “the greatest real-estate fire sale in the history of the United States.” In areas where there have been a lot of foreclosures, Conlin wrote, “It is almost as if the housing market has become the new big box store, with investors wiping out whole shelves at a time.”

The plan of most of these investors is to buy cheap, pay for necessary repairs, rent the homes and eventually sell them.

“While these homes are no longer in foreclosure and are well maintained, investors are unlikely to hold on to them for very long,” read a recent article without a byline in The Niche Report. “Foreclosed homes with rental agreements are destined to become like the mortgage backed securities of yore: financial instruments that can be marketed and traded in open markets.”
IS STUDENT DEBT A THREAT TO THE HOUSING RECOVERY?
Student debt in this country has reached an astronomical total of more than $1 trillion. According to Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that is more than credit card debt in the United States. This enormous figure also casts a cloud over the future of home sales.

“Excessive student debt can slow the recovery of the housing market,” Chopra said in a speech at a Consumer Bankers Association meeting in Austin, Texas. “Student loan borrowers are sending big payments every month to their loan servicers, rather than becoming first-time homebuyers.”

An article written for Housing World by Jessica Huseman pointed out that large student-loan balances prevent many grads from having the necessary credit to qualify for a mortgage.

“While the education students receive in college will stick with them for a lifetime, so may their debt,” Huseman wrote, adding, “and perhaps a struggling housing market.”
LOW U.S. HOME PRICES ATTRACT FOREIGN INVESTORS

Wealthy people from other countries are attracted by bargain prices in the U.S. housing market. Particularly of interest to foreign housing investors are tourist destinations. Inman News reporter Andrea Brambila listed the top 10 U.S. markets in order of percentage of foreign home buyers. Using these criteria with information compiled by DataQuick, a real-estate-data-analysis firm, the top 10 U.S. markets ranked by percentage of foreign real-estate purchases are:

  1.  Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
  2.  Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
  3.  Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.
  4.  North Point-Bradenton-Sarasota, Fla.
  5.  Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.
  6.  Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.
  7.  New York County (Manhattan), New York
  8.  Honolulu, Hawaii
  9.  Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.
  10.  Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
NOTES OF VALUE
  • CoreLogic reported that 11.1 million homes had negative equity at the end of 2011, accounting for 22.8% of all homes in the United States. Nevada (61%), Arizona (48%) and Florida (44%) had the highest percentages of underwater homes.

  • Forbes, with data compiled by McGraw-Hill Construction, rated the top 20 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in terms of construction starts in 2011. Measured in dollar value and not counting government or electric utility projects, the top 10 were: (1) New York, $17.2 billion, (2) Dallas, $9.5 billion, (3) Houston, $8.8 billion, (4) Washington, $8.1 billion, (5) Chicago, $6 billion, (6) Boston, $5.9 billion, (7) Los Angeles, $5.8 billion, (8) Phoenix, $5.3 billion, (9) Seattle, $5.2 billion and (10) Atlanta, $4.9 billion.
ASK MARTITIA
Question: Why does USPAP require appraisers to document the scope of work in their reports?

Martitia: The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice require disclosure of the scope of work on all appraisal, appraisal review and appraisal consulting reports so that the intended users of these reports can gain a clear understanding of how much research and analyses went into the preparation of the report. This requirement protects the client, as well as the appraiser, by showing precisely what was done and what was not done during the performance of the assignment.


Martitia Mortimer, Elliott's executive vice president, answers appraisal questions on a regular basis in Elliott Evaluation News.
QUOTES OF WIT & WISDOM
“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution.” – William Foster

“Nothing so dates a man as to decry the younger generation.” – Adlai Stevenson

“Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighborhood.” – Louise Beal

“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
                                                                                                          – Joshua Marine

“Our forefathers made one mistake. What they should have fought for was representation without taxation.” – Fletcher Knebel
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