October 2009

Real Estate Photos of the Week

by Bryan McDonald

This week’s photos were submitted by Linda Lewis.  Linda is a certified residential appraiser and is the owner of L Sweet Appraisals, LLC.  You can find her at lsweetappraisals.com or on twitter @lsweetapps The photos are of a house that was condemned because of a severely cracked foundation.  Linda said she started carrying a mask [...]

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Free screen capture software review

by Bryan McDonald

FastStone Capture is a screen capture tool.  Version 6.5 is available on the  FastStone website for $19.95.  However, there is a freeware version 5.3 (originally released on 02/12/2007) that has all the features I need to use for my real estate appraisals.  With FastStone Capture you can capture an active window, a full window, part [...]

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A Day in the Life of a Real Estate Appraiser. Episode # 2

by Bryan McDonald

A quick walkthrough of an REO property. One good thing about being a real estate appraiser is that no two days are ever alike.  Every house is different and every appraisal is different.  This is especially true when appraising a foreclosure.  Most REO properties I appraise have deferred maintenance and I rarely know what kind [...]

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Real Estate Photos of the Week

by Bryan McDonald

This weeks photos are from a bank owned property that had been vacant for quite some time.  The roof was damaged and the kitchen ceiling caved in letting water into the house every time it rained.  There was mold and mildew damage throughout the house.  The house had also been vandalized and there were large holes in the drywall [...]

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A day in the life of a real estate appraiser. Episode #1

by Bryan McDonald

The impact of the HVCC on the real estate appraisal industry. The HVCC went into effect on May 1st, 2009.  To help enhance the integrity of the home appraisal process in the mortgage finance industry, in March 2008, Fannie Mae entered into an agreement with our regulator—the Federal Housing Finance Agency (then the Office of [...]

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REbliss photo of the week

by Bryan McDonald

Each week I will be posting photos of some of the crazy things I see while doing real estate appraisals.  This weeks photos are from a bank owned property.  I am not sure how long the house had been vacant.  The house was absolutely disgusting.  The brown and white spots on the floor are animal [...]

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How to find a flood map for free

Thumbnail image for How to find a flood map for free by Bryan McDonald

The flood map zone, map number, and map date are reported on real estate appraisals.  You can buy flood maps from several sources including appraisal software companies ACI and a la mode, inc..  Flood maps can also be obtained from data sources such as RealQuest or Flood Insights.  You can also find flood maps for [...]

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