Blog

I don't blog very much (as you can tell), but I do tweet!

Follow me on Twitter.  https://twitter.com/nextappraisal

Steven Gray conducts residential real estate appraisals in Alameda County and Contra Costa county.

Our new address: 1271 Washington Ave. #128; San Leandro, CA 94577

Spammers have discovered how to use a la mode's blog feature.  I apologize if any spam got through, I'm banning them as quickly as I can to prevent them from posting here.

With interest rates well below 4%, the appraisal business has never been better.

Steven Gray performs home appraisals in Alameda county and Contra Costa county.

We now have a second office located in Alameda county!  Our additional location is:

1271 Washington Ave. #128

San Leandro, CA 94577

We continue to also work out of our Contra Costa county office located at:

15501 San Pablo Ave. #G195

Richmond, CA 94806

Our phone number remains the same: (510) 867-7292

It's been a TERRIFIC start to 2012 and we're keeping the momentum going forward full steam so call us for your Next Appraisal!

Next Appraisal is now on Twitter!

Follow us @NextAppraisal

An article from the Wall Street Journal discussing what living breathing appraisers already know:  Computerized appraisals (i.e. AVM's) are WRONG more often than they are right.  Zillow.com is terrible in most neighborhoods.

Nothing can take the place of a real person, with the knowledge and experience of the neighborhood and market trends, acting under no pressure, to appraise real property.

Here's the article:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204204004576049974087536438.html

BTW, my New Year's resolution is to blog more.  :-o

Next Appraisal / Steven Gray appraises residential properties in the Contra Costa and Alameda county cities of Richmond, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Albany, Hercules, Pinole, Walnut Creek, Oakland, Union City, El Sobrante, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Hayward & more.

We wanted to announce and warmly greet the newest teammate to Next Appraisal, Celeste Lee-Wong.  Celeste will be working as a part-time typist and data entry person for the near future.  Celeste worked as an appraiser trainee a few years ago but suffered the loss of her position when the real estate business fell through the floor and unfortunately was not able to get her appraiser license.  She remains passionate about appraising and looks forward to slowly working her way back into this awesome profession.

  Welcome Celeste! We hope that we learn a great deal from each other!  :-)

So, the business agreement (not a law) that was known as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct is sunsetting this month.

In response to this sunsetting, Fannie Mae has developed their own appraiser independence requirements to take it's place and is essentially the same as the HVCC.  The new requirements are clearer to read and understand.  The rules still prohibit anyone who receives commission from a loan from ordering an appraisal.  It does not prohibit mortgage company staff from ordering appraisals as long as there are rules/firewall in place that sperate those originating loans from those ordering appraisals.

Here's the link to the new Fannie Mae requirements.  https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/relatedsellinginfo/appcode/pdf/air.pdf

Next Appraisal is a residential appraisal company that services Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

Business is going like gang busters!  Due to that fact, I've decided that I need to cut down on my drive time and stick closer to my home areas.  Therefore I will stop taking appraisal orders for Solano county.

I still will be appraising homes in both Contra Costa county and Alameda county.  I've been receiving a lot of appraisal requests for Orinda, Moraga, Berkely and Walnut Creek lately.  Those places haven't been hit by the recession as hard as some others and homeowners still have equity.  Areas of Richmond are in pretty sad shape still.  I'm seeing many homes in North Richmond and the Iron Triangle neighborhood for sale well below $100,000.  San Pablo is a bit better, but not much.

The talking heads say we're in an era of no inflation and possibly deflation.  So, can anyone tell me why my E&O insurance went up 20% this year???  I've never had a claim, ever. 

...more to come later.

Sounds weird? 

What I mean is, it seems the busier I am, the more and more work I attract.  I mentioned this to a friend of mine the other day and he said quite matter of factly, "would you prefer to see a doctor that can see you right away, or one that can't see you for a week?".  Makes sense to me!  :-)

I really appreciate all my loyal clients who entrust me with business.  I never forget that what I do is serious business and affects people's lives.  I strive and work extremely hard and long hours doing the very best job I can for each and every property.

THANK YOU!