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FEBRUARY 2012 |
PLAT MAPS ADDING TO ELLIOTT’S®
SERVICE MENU
 As ELLIOTT® & Company
Appraisers, established in
1980, continues to evolve,
it now fulfills some of its
clients’ needs for plat
maps. Plat maps through
ELLIOTT® are created by
experienced, state-registered, land surveyors
without a physical property
inspection. Ordering plat
maps through ELLIOTT® is an
economical and efficient way
to obtain plat maps in the
United States in all areas
where conditions allow.
“We at ELLIOTT® are always
on the lookout for ways to
meet the needs of our
clients and add to our
growing array of corporate
capabilities,” said Charlie
Elliott, MAI, SRA, ASA and
president of ELLIOTT® &
Company Appraisers. “We are
proud to announce that we
are now capable of producing
and delivering plat maps of
any parcel of land in the
United States, where
adequate legal descriptions
are provided.”
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HOME PRICES CONTINUE TO FALL IN 2012
 Research by Clear Capital indicated
that the average home price in the
United States last month was 2.6%
less than what it had been in
January 2011. It was homes in the
Midwest, according to the report,
that caused the national average to
drop so far. The sharp decline in
average Midwestern home values were
said to be a result of an increase
in REO saturation in that part of
the country.
“Although prices at the national
level continue to slide due to
pressure from the Midwest, the lower
priced segments of several specific
markets are bucking the trend and
seeing appreciation, suggesting that
recoveries could be occurring from
the bottom up,” said Alex
Villacorta, Ph.D., Clear Capital’s
director of research and analytics.
“When we look at the strength in the
bottom tier of prices, the
volatility within the metro markets,
the rapid changes in direction with
certain regions and relative
stability in others, these factors
underscore the economic and market
fragility that remains a dark cloud
over housing prices.” |
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FORMER CITY COUNCILMAN IMPRISONED
FOR STEALING APPRAISERS’ IDENTITIES
 Daniel Nichter has served as a
Hilliard (Ohio) City Councilman, as
the surrounding Franklin County’s
development director and as an
Ohio-licensed real estate appraiser.
Now he is serving a four-year prison
term. Nichter, whose appraisal
license was revoked in March 2008,
plead guilty last November to
stealing the identity of three
appraisers. Further, the disgraced
politician has been accused of using
these identities, without the
appraisers’ knowledge, and
completing more than 20 appraisal
reports with inflated values, as
part of a mortgage-fraud scheme.
Nichter, who had also served as an
adjunct professor at Ohio State
University, teaching, among other
subjects, real estate law and
finance, was sentenced in January
and received an additional 18-month
probation sentence for passing bad
checks. |
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CASH SALES PULLING DOWN AVERAGE HOME
PRICES
The Housing Pulse Tracking Survey,
conducted by Campbell Inside
Mortgage Finance, concluded that
when homes are paid for in cash, the
price tends to be lower than it
would be otherwise. The December
2011 version of this survey
concluded that many cash buyers are
investors. A whopping 33.2% of home
transactions in December were sold
to investors and an amazing 74% of
them paid cash for the home.
“The survey also found that cash
buyers were able to make purchases
at much lower prices on many homes
as a result of shorter and more
reliable closings,” wrote Mike
Colpitts, of Housing Predictor, on
the subject. “Banks and mortgage
companies are more willing to take
offers to purchase properties from
cash buyers since they often do not
usually require other contingencies,
including mortgages and
inspections.” |
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APPRAISAL FOUNDATION SEEKING
COMMENTS ON SELLER CONCESSIONS
 The Appraisal Foundation is asking
for public comment on how to
calculate the effect seller
concessions have on the selling
price of comparables.
“A common tool used to help
facilitate a property transaction is
to have the seller provide financial
assistance or incentives to the
buyer,” wrote Gary Taylor, chair of
the Appraisal Practices Board, which
is part of the foundation. “Such
assistance may be considered a
seller concession or financing
concession, and this is important
because it may have an influence on
the contract price.”
Comments will be accepted through
February 29. These comments can be
emailed to
apbcomments@appraisalfoundation.org,
faxed to (202) 347-7727 or mailed by
letter to Appraisal Practices Board,
The Appraisal Foundation, 1155 15th
Street, NW, Suite 1111, Washington,
DC 20005.
“The purpose of this guidance is how
to identify, verify, analyze and
adjust sales comparables for both
seller and financing concessions,”
Taylor added. |
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NOTES OF VALUE
  Lender
Processing Services reported that
the average price on a purchase of a
U.S. home was $199,000 in November
of last year.
According
to a report from the U.S. Census
Bureau, the homeownership rate
dropped to 66% in the fourth quarter
of last year.
CoreLogic
reported that for every two
homes available for sale in
October, there was one that was
classified as being part of the
shadow inventory.
Research
by CoreLogic indicated that home
prices declined by 4.7% in 2011.
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ASK MARTITIA
 Question:
If an Appraiser Trainee does not
sign an appraisal report because of
the client’s or his company’s
policy, how can he prove he has
spent time on that appraisal
assignment so that his work on it
will help fulfill his experience
requirements needed for his license?
Martitia: The
Trainee’s supervisory appraiser must
disclose that the Trainee provided
appraisal assistance on the
assignment within the certification
of its report. The supervisor must
also describe the extent of the
Trainee’s assistance within his
report.
Martitia Mortimer, Elliott's
executive vice president, answers
appraisal questions on a regular
basis in Elliott Evaluation News. |
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QUOTES OF WIT &
WISDOM
“Bad officials are the ones
elected by good citizens who do
not vote.”
– George Jean Nathan
“People who are brutally honest
get more satisfaction out of the
brutality than out of the
honesty.” – Richard Needham
“The man who can drive himself
further once the effort gets
painful is the man who will
win.”
– Roger Bannister
“People who are hungry and out
of a job are the stuff of which
dictatorships are made.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The first step toward success
is taken when you refuse to be a
captive of the environment in
which you first find yourself.”
– Mark Caine
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ELLIOTT® & Company
Appraisers • 3316-A Battleground
Avenue • Greensboro, NC 27410 •
(800) 854-5889 |
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