Real Estate Appraisers for Las Vegas-Basic Appraisal Theory

A real estate appraisal is a service performed by a licensed or certified appraiser, who develops an opinion of value. While there are many definitions of value (e.g. -- investment value, tax value, foreclosure value), the most common definition of value is market value. If the appraisers opinion is based on market value, then it must also be based on the highest and best use of real property. For mortgage valuations of improved residential property, this value is most often reported on a standardized form, such as the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report.^[1] Appraisals of more complex property (e.g. -- income producing, raw land) are usually reported in a narrative appraisal report.

An appraisal is performed for a specific client, to whom the appraiser has a fiduciary responsibility, regardless of what party ultimately pays for the appraisal, whether anyone actually pays for the appraisal, or when the appraisal is paid for. Typically residential appraisers agree to accept orders from lending institutions with the understanding that payment will be made following settlement, or closing of the loan. In most cases, the homeowner or buyer ultimately pays for a residential appraisal, either directly or rolled into settlement fees.

Highest and Best Use

Highest and best use is a term of art in the appraisal process. It is a process to determine the use of the property which produces the highest value for the land, as if vacant. There are four steps to the process. First, the appraiser determines all uses which are legally permissible for the property. Second, of the uses which are legally permissible, which ones are physically possible. Of those, which ones are financially feasible (sometimes referred to as economically supported) Of those uses which are feasible, which one and only use is maximally productive for the site. In a simple context, the appraiser must do this twice, comparing the results -- as if the land is vacant and in the as-is-improved state, taking into account the costs of demolishing any existing improvements. The outcome of this process is the highest and best use for the site. An appraisal of market value must explicitly assume that the owner or buyer would employ the property in its highest and best use, and therefore value the site accordingly.

In more complex appraisal assignments (e.g. -- contract disputes, litigation, brownfield or contaminated property valuation), the determination of highest and best use may be much more complex, and may need to take into account the various intermediate or temporary uses of the site, the contamination remediation process, and the timing of various legal issues.^[2]

Appraisal Standards

In the USA, minimum appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications are the province of The Appraisal Foundation (TAF). This organization is an independent body but its activities are overseen by the Appraisal Subcommittee (TAS). TAS represents the various Federal agencies and government chartered organizations which have oversight of the mortgage market. TAS and its oversight of TAF was authorized by congress under Title XI of the 1991 Financial Institutions Reform Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), which came out of the Savings and Loan crisis. TAF is governed by a Board of Directors which represents the various appraisal professional organizations in the U.S. and Canada, the appraisal educators, and the major industry groups. It carries out its responsibilities through two boards, the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) and the Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB). The ASB promulgates the Uniform Standard of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) which outlines the minimum development and reporting standards an appraiser/appraisal report must meet. The AQB is responsible for establishing the minimum education, examination, and experience requirements for licensed/certified appraisers. Effective January 1, 2008, the requirements to become a state licensed or certified real property appraiser will significantly increase.^[3] State licensing was established in the early 1990s as a result of FIRREA.

The implementation of licensure and enforcement are state functions. In addition, there are appraisal organizations, private not-for-profits, some of which date back to the Great Depression of the 1930s, such as the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, founded in 1929.^{[citation needed]} Others were founded as needed and opportunity arose in specialized fields, such as the Appraisal Institute and the American Society of Appraisers (founded in the 1930s) and the International Right of Way Association and the National Association of Realtors (after World War II). These organizations all existed to establish and enforce standards, but their influence has waned as the government increases appraisal regulation.

In the UK, real estate appraisal is known as property valuation and a real estate appraiser is a land valuer or property valuer (usually a chartered surveyor who specialises in property valuation). Property valuation in the UK is regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a professional body encompassing all of the building and property-related professions. The RICS professional guidelines for valuers are published in the RICS Appraisal and Valuation Standards, commonly known as the Red Book. While based in the U.K., RICS is a global organization and has become very active in the U.S. in recent years through its affiliation with the Counselors of Real Estate, a division of the National Association of Realtors.

The reader should be aware that differences in nomenclature exist between the different countries. Although the overall concepts are very similar, the reader should be careful to ascertain that the proper nomenclature is being used for their particular area.

Types of value

There are several types and definitions of value sought by a real estate appraisal. Some of the most common are listed:

Market Value – The price at which an asset would trade in a competitive Walrasian auction setting. Market value is usually interchangeable with open market value or fair value. However, the word "fair" is no longer in use when describing Market Value. International Valuation Standards (IVS) define Market Value as:

It is important to distinguish between Market Value and price. Market value is a fluid concept, ever changing, while price is a historical fact at the time of a transaction. A price obtained for a specific property under a specific transaction may or may not represent that property's market value: special considerations may have been present, such as a family relationship between the buyer and seller, or else the transaction may have been part of a larger set of transactions in which the parties had engaged. Another possibility is that a specific buyer would be willing to pay a price higher than the market value. Such situations often arise in corporate finance, as per example when a merger or acquisition is concluded at a price which is higher than the value represented by the price of the underlying stock. The usual rationale for these valuations is that the 'sum is greater than its parts', since full ownership of a company entails special privileges for the buyer for which he is willing to pay. Such situations arise in real estate/property markets as well (see value-in-use). It is the task of the real estate appraiser/property valuer to judge whether a certain price obtained under a certain transaction is indicative of market value.

Market value definitions in the US

In the US, "Fair Market Value" and "Fair Value" are commonly used as accounting terms. The equivalent appraisal term is "Market Value." (USPAP Advisory Opinion 8.)^{[citation needed]} USPAP defines Market Value as "a type of value, stated as an opinion, that presumes the transfer of a property (i.e., a right of ownership or a bundle of such rights), as of a certain date, under specific conditions set forth in the definition of the term identified by the appraiser as applicable in an appraisal".

Forming an opinion of market value is the purpose of many real property appraisal assignments, particularly when the client’s intended use includes more than one intended user. The conditions included in market value definitions establish market perspectives for development of the opinion. These conditions may vary from definition to definition but generally fall into three categories:

In the U.S., the most common definition of market value is the one commonly used for Federally regulated residential mortgage financing:

'*'Adjustments to the comparables must be made for special or creative financing or sales concessions. No adjustments are necessary for those costs which are normally paid by sellers as a result of tradition or law in a market area; these costs are readily identifiable since the seller pays these costs in virtually all sales transactions. Special or creative financing adjustments can be made to the comparable property by comparisons to financing terms offered by a third party institutional lender that is not already involved in the property or transaction. Any adjustment should not be calculated on a mechanical dollar for dollar cost of the financing or concession but the dollar amount of any adjustment should approximate the market’s reaction to the financing or concessions based on the appraiser’s judgment.(FNMA form 1025, March 2005.)

Types of ownership interest

Highest and best use

The highest and best use in real estate appraisal is the use that will render the maximum fair market value of a particular property. That use must be legally allowable, physically possible, financially feasible, and result in the maximum value for the property. The test of highest and best use is given to a property both as if vacant and as improved.

For example, "House A" in a residentially zoned area may have a highest and best use as vacant and a highest and best use as improved that are both the same. A similar "House B" in a commercially zoned area may have a highest and best use as vacant as a commercial lot and ''highest and best use as improved as a residence. If the value of the commercial lot as vacant in "House B" exceeds the value of house as a residence as improved plus demolition costs, the overall highest and best use of this property would be the as vacant value of a commercial lot.

Since vacant lots are not improved, such properties are generally given only the as vacant test.

The highest and best use is critical to real property valuation since in order to value a property at its fair market value, comparable properties with similar highest and best uses must be examined. In the "House B" scenario, comparing that house to other houses that do not have a similar highest and best use would result in an inaccurate value opinion.

In the US, the legally permissible aspect of highest and best use is very important. In some locations, the governing jurisdiction can use the "police power" concept to destroy illegally built improvements. This would obviously affect the market value of a property. This overall concept is logical, ie. a governing agency would be remiss to allow a toxic chemical plant to be built in the middle of a suburban area.

Three approaches to value

There are three usual approaches to determining the fair market value of a property: cost approach, sales comparison approach, and income approach. The appraiser will determine which of the approaches is applicable and develop an appraisal based upon information from each individual market area. Costs, income, and sales vary widely from area to area and particular importance is given to the specific location of the property.

Consideration is also given to the market for the property appraised. Properties that are typically purchased by investors (ie. skyscrapers) will give greater weighting to the Income Approach, while small retail or office properties (purchased by owner-users) will give greater weighting to the Sales Comparison Approach. Single Family Residences are most commonly valued with greatest weighting to the Sales Comparison Approach.

Cost approach

The Cost approach was formerly called the summation approach. The theory is that the value of a property can be estimated by summing the land value and the depreciated value of any improvements. It is the land value, plus the cost to reconstruct any improvements, less the depreciation on those improvements. The value of the improvements is sometimes abbreviated to RCNLD—reproduction cost new less depreciation, or replacement cost new less deprecation. Reproduction refers to reproducing an exact replica. Replacement cost refers to the cost of building a house or other improvement which has the same utility, but using modern design, workmanship and materials.

In most instances, when the cost approach is involved, the overall methodology used is a hybrid of the cost and market data approaches. For instance, while the cost to construct a building can be determined by adding the labor and materials costs together, land values and depreciation must be derived from an analysis of the market data. This approach is typically most reliable when used on newer structures, but the method tends to become less reliable as properties grow older.

The underlying premise of the cost approach in appraising market value is that building a substitute property is an alternative to someone who wishes to own such a property. While age is a fairly obvious constraint on that premise, developed urban areas present their own challenges. For instance, if there is little or no vacant land available in a neighborhood, the premise breaks down. Appraising land value is subjective when a scarcity of relevant land sales exists. But also, estimating construction cost is problematic because of an absence of similar construction from which to derive costs. Not only are building codes frequently changing in developed urban areas, but the small number of houses built do not allow the economies of scale available in a new development. The absence of land sales presents more than a data problem for completing the cost approach. The absence of such a market indicates that buyers may not be thinking in terms of building a new home as a substitute for buying an existing home, which tends to expose the unrealistic nature of the underlying premise. Building an individual new home also can be more difficult due to the difficulty in obtaining mortgage financing.

Observe that as the Cost Approach has non-market based components (costs), the approach may not be a good indicator of market value, even when new. This is most noticeable on properties where the market demand is limited. Say for example a military base. The cost to produce the base is not indicative of its market value, even when new. In the US, the government is the only party that would be willing to "buy" this product. This immediate "loss" is a form of obsolescence.

Also observe that this includes "home improvements" that do not recover their costs in the market. A common example in California is the cost of a pool. In most houses, the cost to build a pool is far greater than the increase in market value to the house. This immediate "loss" is again, a form of obsolescence. Accurately determining obsolescence and depreciation (as the property ages) are usually the main problems within the Cost Approach to open market value.

Notwithstanding, the latter challenge must be accepted for insurance purposes. Insurors are interested in insuring structures, not the value of the whole property. After a major disaster, for instance the Oakland Hills Fire of 1991, some perspective is gained on the actual cost of urban construction. The perspective may be through a distorted lens, however. While builders uniformly maintained that costs exceeded those published in cost manuals, the replacement houses, almost as uniformly are larger than those they replaced.

One of the interesting issues in the cost approach is the influence of classical economics. In the example of the swimming pool, above, or many other "home improvements" the relevant question to the homeowner is microeconomic. It is not what the modification in question costs, but rather whether he can modify his existing home more easily and cheaply than buying another house which already has those features. Even in a static market transaction costs related to selling and buying favor home improvements. In an inflationary market, adding the cost of the "improvements" to a decade old cost basis in the property compounds the effect. In a wildly inflationary market it is even dangerous to give up your present home in the hope of replacing it. The price of the replacement home becomes a moving target. This, of course, tends to exacerbate inflation by limiting, at least in the short run, supply.

Sales comparison approach

The sales comparison approach looks at the price or price per unit area of similar properties being sold in the marketplace. Simply put, the sales of properties similar to the subject are analyzed and the sale prices adjusted to account for differences in the comparables to the subject to determine the fair market value of the subject. This approach is generally considered the most reliable, if good comparable sales exist. In any event, it is the only independent check on the reasonability of an appraisal opinion.

Because this approach applies market derived numeric factors to relate the sold properties to the one being appraised, it is related to Automated Valuation Modeling, below. An interesting perspective on the relationship between relatively subjective human estimation as compared with that obtained by purely mathematic modeling is contained in "Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart" by Gerd Gigerenzer. Dr. Gigerenzer, a psychologist, asked people to estimate some real world facts based simply on their knowledge, experience and impressions. Common knowledge and some simple rules created models which were close to those produced by multiple regression analysis (MRA) and neural networks. The predictive value of the human models applied to a new sample was a bit better than the mathematical models, suggesting that the mathematical models may have described the data better but missed the predictive relationships. Similarly automated valuation models frequently find building size (square feet or meters) predictive of value, even when that information is not explicitly advertised. This is similar to the example in "The Wisdom of Crowds", Surowiecki, in which the scientist Francis Galton observed a crowd at a fair to, on average, accurately estimate the size of an ox.

Income approach or Income capitalization approach

The income capitalization approach is used to value commercial and investment properties.

In a commercial income producing property this approach capitalizes an income stream into a present value. This can be done using revenue multipliers or single-year capitalization rates of the net operating income. The Net operating income (NOI) is gross potential income (GPI), less vacancy (= Effective Gross Income) less operating expenses (but excluding debt service or depreciation charges applied by accountants).

Alternatively, multiple years of net operating income can be valued by a discounted cash flow analysis (DCF) model. The DCF model is widely used to value larger and more expensive income-producing properties, such as large office towers.

Valuation methods

In the UK, real estate appraisal, or property valuation, is regulated by the RICS, which publishes the Red Book. The Red Book takes a more subtle approach to valuation than the three approaches to appraisal outlined above. The Red Book recognises five methods of valuation:

Automated valuation models

Automated valuation models (AVMs) are growing in acceptance. These rely on statistical models such as multiple regression analysis and geographic information systems (GIS).^[5] While AVMs can be quite accurate, particularly when used in a very homogeneous area, there is also evidence that AVMs are not accurate in other instances such as when they are used in rural areas, or when the appraised property does not conform well to the neighborhood.

This is most evident where there is a renewal or "revitalization" of a particular area or neighborhood. There can exist within a single city block homes that are in poor condition to homes that have been completely rehabilitated and are in good to excellent condition. The differential of sales prices can be demonstrated to be from 50% to 125%. This can lead to an inaccurate model. In San Francisco, California, something like half of price can be predicted using readily quantified measures and a multiple regression (MRA) AVM. In suburban Redwood City, California, by contrast, over 90% of price can normally be captured. Extreme caution should be exercised when relying on AVMs, especially if the user is unfamiliar with modeling and the math.

Because of the limitations, AVMs have begun to fall out of favor with many lenders but are widely used in other appraisal problems such as mass appraisals for ad valorem real estate tax purposes. One of the problems of using AVMs for lending purposes is control of inputs and results. Everyone in the loan origination process is interested in some way in making the loan. Modifying the inputs (boundary of comparable search, even size of building) to create a favorable answer is a mighty temptation. Even foreclosure is unlikely to result in regret if the mortgage has been securitized and the originator gets paid to service the loans in the package. In property tax assessment, by contrast, there are contesting interests and a quasi-legal dispute resolution process. The assessor, arguably, wants assessments as high as defensibly possible. The taxpayers, clearly, want their assessments low. Disputes are normally adjudicated in assessment appeal. The county assessor is frequently an elected office. The contest of interests tends to refine the accuracy of the valuation results.

USPAP

In the United States, the rules of real estate appraisal are codified in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)developed by the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) which is authorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standards. USPAP guidelines set standards for real estate appraisal practice in the United States. USPAP was developed after the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 1980s when real estate appraisal in almost all states was an unregulated industry. Government regulations such as the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) called for stricter guidelines on the appraisal industry. USPAP was developed to protect the public from unethical and incompetent appraisers. The core framework of USPAP was developed by a committee representing the eight leading appraisal organizations in the U.S. plus the Appraisal Institute of Canada. USPAP continues to be updated every two years by the ASB.

In the US, the appraisal licensing of individuals is left to the states. Standards for licensure are promulgated by the Appraisal Qualifications Board, a sister-organization to the ASB. However all appraisals for a "Federally Related Transaction" must be performed by an appraiser with the appropriate type of license, and conform to USPAP. The individual states decide if licensing is required for other types of appraisals.

Professional Organizations

The largest and most influential professional organization of real estate appraisers in America is the Appraisal Institute, It was formed in from the merger of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and the Society of Real Estate Appraisers. Founded along with others in the 1930's, the two organizations merged in the 1990's to form the Appraisal Institute (AI). The AI awards two professional designations: "SRA", to designated residential appraisers, and MAI, to designated commercial appraisers. Both of these designations require a significant level of practitioner education, experience, and apprenticeship.

Other leading appraisal organizations, include the American Society of Appraisers, National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers, and the National Association of Master Appraisers, which were also founding sponsor-members of the Appraisal Foundation.^[6] In recent years, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has become highly regarded in the U.S., and has formed a collaboration with the Counselors of Real Estate, a division of the National Association of Realtors. RICS, which is headquartered in the U.K., operates on a global scale. The Real Estate Counseling Group of America is a small group of the top appraisers and real estate analysts in the U.S. who author a disproportionately large body of appraisal methodology. One of the leading Real Estate Appraisal companies in New York State is Special Appraisal, you can visit them at www.seaehomes.com

The various U.S. and international professional organizations have started collaborating in recent years toward the development of international valuation standards which will facilitate global real estate appraisal, a much-needed adjunct to real estate investment portfolios which transcend national boundaries.

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