http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraisers: What Does Your Brand Stand For? John C. Jones, Realtor/Broker in Murfreesboro, TN, explains why your brand is important to YOUR public!

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraisers Video Tip Of The Day 11/23/09: Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE!

I found this video this evening on the eRealEstate site and it’s important because it lays out the reasons WHY YOUR REAL ESTATE APPRIASER MARKETING MUST CHANGE! The Video says that there are over “200,000,000″ that’s 200 HUNDRED MILLION Searches A Day On Google. It’s Important To Realize That Your Regular Appraiser Website Is Not Helping You To Get Found Online In Google. This is why I developed Appraiser Video Sites On Steroids That Get Google’s Attention! I’ve been using these sites for 3 years now and know from experience that they work far better than a traditional appraiser website.

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Real Estate Appraisers Video Tip Of The Day 11/23/09: Social Media Marketing in 3 minutes AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE!

I found this video this evening on the eRealEstate site and it’s important because it lays out the reasons WHY YOUR REAL ESTATE APPRIASER MARKETING MUST CHANGE! The Video says that there are over “200,000,000″ that’s 200 HUNDRED MILLION Searches A Day On Google. It’s Important To Realize That Your Regular Appraiser Website Is Not Helping You To Get Found Online In Google. This is why I developed Appraiser Video Sites On Steroids That Get Google’s Attention! I’ve been using these sites for 3 years now and know from experience that they work far better than a traditional appraiser website.

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Home Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/22/09: Appraiser’s Twitter Marketing Testimonial and First List Of FHA AMCs Now Available!

There’s Actually 2 Tips!

On Friday morning, I saw this “tweet” below from Appraiser Help and was immediately curious about this “First List of FHA AMCs”. So, I ordered my copy and glad I did.

According to the website, “This directory is fully updated with all new information not found in any other directory available online today.”

Their website also states that if you sign up for any of their appraisal directories ( FHAAppraisers.com, AppraiserHelp.com or TaxGrievanceAppraisers.com ), “you can have the $39.99 credited towards a one year directory listing. Members of our directories will always receive free updates.”

So, the 2 Real Estate Appraiser’s Tips On 11/22/2009 are this:

Tip #1: The way I discovered that this product was available was through “Twitter”. No, I haven’t received any email(s) from Appraiser Help about this new FHA AMC List. They chose Twitter to make their first initial announcement. That should give you, the appraiser, a hint about marketing in 2009…..rolling quickly into 2010.

Tip #2: That the First FHA AMC List is now available. To order yours, click on the FHA AMC Directory image above!

Real Estate Appraiser Tips | Home Appraiser Tips! is an information blog covering real estate appraiser related news and tips on these topics stated below. This site is operated by Bill Cobb, CREA, a full time residential real estate appraiser in the Greater Baton Rouge Market. Bill can be reached at 225.953.0638 @ appraisertips@gmail.com. Follow Bill on Facebook @ http://bit.ly/E0rsl and On Twitter @appraisertips

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Home Appraisers Tip Of The Day 11/17/09: Visit Rachel Dollar’s Mortgage Fraud Blog Often

Today’s Tip is to visit Rachel Dollar’s http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/ often. I first became acquainted with Rachel’s blog when a fellow home appraiser in Atlanta, GA, Jayme Kortman, experienced “Appraiser Identity Theft”. I’ll be blogging about that topic later this month. It was Rachel’s blog that informed me of Jayme’s experience and reminded me to take precautions in my own appraisal practice to help avoid Appraiser ID Theft.

About Mortgage Fraud Blog and Rachel Dollar:

Mortgage Fraud Blog is the premier website for news and information on mortgage fraud and real estate fraud throughout the United States.

Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog, is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors. She is an author and a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of mortgage fraud. Ms. Dollar is a shareholder with the law firm of Smith Dollar, PC, is licensed to practice law in California and maintains offices in Santa Rosa, California.

Follow Rachel Dollar, the “FraudDiva” on Twitter, Click Below

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Home Appraiser AMC Tip: StreetLinks Has Added Lenders in 2009, Meaning They’ll Need More Appraisers

According to Kansas City Business Journal and Appraisal Scoop, Street Links National Appraisal Services has added lender clients. Click on the Kansas City link above to read the full article. Here’s a snippet:

“The company said it plans use its cash on hand to develop new businesses such as StreetLinks National Appraisal Services LLC and Advent Financial Services LLC, which provides refund-anticipation loans and related services to low- and moderate-income customers.

“Management believes that StreetLinks is situated to take advantage of growth opportunities in the residential appraisal management business,” NovaStar said in the filing. “We have added significant new customers for StreetLinks during 2009, which have produced significant increases in revenue for StreetLinks during 2009.”

So, Today’s Tip is to apply to http://www.streetlinks.com/ if you’re looking for another AMC to apply to.

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Social Media Marketing For Real Estate Appraisers – Using Twitter & Facebook to Grow Your Business and Maintain Relationships

David Bayer has written an excellent article on Socia Media Marketing I wanted to share with Home Appraisers. The link is here. And, here’s a few short snippets from David’s article:

Social Media Acceptance. “Social media marketing is here to stay” could very well be chalked up as the understatement of the year. Social media marketing has been on the rise for the past several years. Unfortunately, many small businesses, corporations, and independent freelancers have been slow to get on board the social networking train.”

Facebook. “If you’re in business and not on Facebookyet, you should really ask yourself why. Facebook is the boy wonder of social marketing. A site that started as a side project/hobby for a couple of Harvard guys now has over 200 million users and ranks as the number one visited site in the world. Everyone from the small business owner to corporate giants is realizing the viral power of Facebook to drive traffic to their websites and connect with new clients.”

Twitter. “Twitter is a lot like Facebook, stripped down to the basic necessities. The question Twitter poses to its users is simply, “What are you doing?” You can literally begin using Twitter (or tweeting) after a simple sign-up, the upload of a profile picture, a short bio write up, and maybe a background design to match your corporate presence. The essence of Twitter? Find out what’s new with others, and share what’s going on with you. Twitter, like all social networking platforms, can be used solely for recreational purposes, but it has huge potential for smart businesses.”

Enjoy! Bill Cobb, Appraiser delivering Real Estate Appraisers That Help Appraisers Work Harder On Their Business Than Within Their Business! Follow Appraiser Tips on Twitter @appraisertips

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Attention Real Estate Appraisers: Have You Viewed The “CompCruncher” Video Yet? You’ve Got To See This!

(Click on the video screen to view the video)

This Announcement was by Appraisal Buzz and Working RE Magazine this morning, so this must be a major announcement:

“An Open Letter to the Appraisal Industry from Jeff Bradford of Bradford Technologies, Inc.

The valuation profession is at a tipping point. Lenders are seeking valuations that meet their requirements and are spending billions of dollars on alternative valuation solutions because the appraiser community is not meeting their needs. Almost everyone agrees that our industry must change if it is to meet those needs and challenges. This year alone, there were two conferences and numerous white papers on re-engineering the appraisal process. At Bradford Technologies, we also agree that changes are needed.

For 23 years, our goal has always been to empower appraisers with software to complete an appraisal report faster, better and cheaper than the next guy. It’s a simple goal and we are very good at it. But the problems facing the industry today will not be solved by developing faster form fillers. Appraisers don’t need a better form filler (or form) – they need better analysis tools and better solutions to industry problems if they are going to effectively compete.

Today we are pleased to introduce CompCruncher, a new class of software called Computer-Aided Appraisal Software. Three years in the making, it puts appraisers squarely in the middle of the valuation process, giving them the ability to produce supportable, transparent, accurate valuations quickly. We are also introducing a new data rich Collateral Valuation Report (CVR), and a rigorous education and training curriculum to ensure competency in the use of the analytics and software.

To ensure trust and reliability of the Collateral Valuation Report, we also developed the supporting infrastructure which includes services for identity authentication and On Document Verification to combat appraisal fraud. We developed technology for quantifying market knowledge and now have a service that ranks over 17,000 appraisers for geographic competence. And we developed online credential management for appraisers to bring additional transparency to the valuation process.

In addition, we partnered with national data providers to bring all the information an appraiser needs to their desktop – instantly – ready to be analyzed. For instance, we provide up to 500 sales with three year sales history, imagery, geospatial information, economic trends for forecasting in addition to integration with over 700 MLS systems. The end result is that a skilled appraiser using CompCruncher is able to provide their client with an accurate, supportable estimate of value in less than an hour. With our sophisticated forecasting module, values for 30 to 360 days out from the effective date can be estimated helping risk managers and portfolio managers make long term value projections.

Repeatedly, in blind test after test, results have shown that CompCruncher can assist a knowledgeable appraiser in producing supportable valuations that are accurate to within a few percentage points of the actual contract price. Generally the value estimates have taken less than an hour to produce. Please download our white paper for a detailed description of the overall solution and test results (see the links at the end).

This analytical capability is unprecedented and so today we are also introducing a new concept in deploying software. The initial cost to use CompCruncher is simply the cost of education. Before anyone can use the software, they must successfully complete our education and training curriculum – which is our way of ensuring competency in the use of the analytics. Thereafter the cost is a service transaction fee to cover the cost of data and our services.

For the last nine months, we’ve conducted tests across the country in partnership with one of the nation’s premier appraisal companies – Forsythe Appraisals, LLC. The property data varied widely but the analytics proved solid, consistently producing accurate results in record time. As Alan Hummel, Senior VP – Chief Appraiser of Forsythe Appraisals stated, “this is a game changer.”

Welcome to the New Era of Computer-Aided Appraisals.

Today, we have appraisers across the country using CompCruncher. Over the coming months we will be expanding our national network of appraisers skilled in the use of the software. We will also be developing relationships with the lending and investment community to ensure their non-lending valuation needs are being met by “CompCruncher” skilled appraisers. Instead of ordering a BPO, we want them to order a CVR from an appraiser.

We are excited about the future of the appraisal profession. We believe that the technology and solutions we have developed (and will develop) will help advance the profession. During the development of CompCruncher, we explored, among other analytical techniques, the use of DNA software to analyze neighborhoods and 3D cluster analysis to view markets. We are on our third generation and work has already begun on the fourth generation of CompCruncher.

It is our firm belief that appraisers equipped with the education, training and tools to systematically analyze markets are the best choice to meet the valuation needs of this country and reclaim the billion dollar alternative valuation market.

We are looking forward to working with all appraisers and industry leaders to ensure that the non-lending valuation needs of the financial community are met by a professional appraiser. We also look forward to working with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and FHA/VA to incorporate these advances into their traditional residential valuation needs.

Our mission is clear and our goal is compelling – we want to empower appraisers with tools they need to reclaim the billion dollar alternative valuation market they have lost to inferior products.

It’s time for valuations and appraisers to move to the next level. We are there. Join us.

Respectfully, Jeffery J. Bradford CEO Bradford Technologies

P.S. I encourage you to learn more about the work we are doing. Please stop by our booth at following conferences:

Valuation 2009, Nov 8th-11th in New Orleans.

Appraisal Institute Regional Conference. Nov 19th in San Francisco.

Appraisal Summit Conference, December 9th-11th in Las Vegas. On the 9th we are offering five hours of CE credit on “Statistics in Appraising.”

Visit our website at www.AppraisalWorld.com/CompCruncher.htm.

Download our whitepaper “Reclaiming the Billion Dollar Alternative Valuation Market: The Collateral Valuation Report” at www.AppraisalWorld.com/CompCruncher/Whitepaper.pdf “

http://batonrougerealestateappraisal.com/ – Baton Rouge Real Estate Appraisers News: Tax Credit Extended

Wow! I arrived back at the office to receive a flood of news about the Tax Credit Extension.

From Wells Fargo Mortgage:

Tami Luhby, with CNNMoney.com, is reporting that Congress Extends Homebuyer Benefits! Bill Extends Homebuyer Tax Credi Into Next Year. Here’s a snippet below:

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — New homebuyers are poised to see the $8,000 tax credit extended into mid-next year.

The legislation extends the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The controversial credit, which many say has boosted home sales in recent months, was set to expire after Nov. 30.

The bill also creates a $6,500 credit for those who buy a home after living in their current house at least five years. That measure would apply to contracts signed by April 30 and closed by June 30. The current credit defines a first-time homebuyer as someone who has not owned a residence within the past three years.

The credit would be available only for the purchase of principal residences priced at $800,000 or less.”

From Darren James @ Keller Williams Realty:

“Breaking News!!!

As of today-Thursday, November 5th, the bill has passed involving the extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit and will be sent to President Obama for his signature. The new program will go into effect when President Obama signs the bill. Click link below for details!!

CLICK HERE FOR PDF PODCAST

From Baton Rouge Business Report:

Realtors pleased tax credit extended

http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Three Real Estate Appraiser Marketing Strategies Using Twitter?

Twitter is an amazing “FREE” online marketing business tool with almost an endless supply of potential uses….only limited by your creativity.

EBAY. For example, last week, I saw where a guy with a list of over 20,000 twitter followers was sending out a tweet about his own Ebay listing for sale with a link to click to view the listing. That’s in genius!

LOCAL MLS. My local MLS uses Twitter to alert (text) those that follow of system outages and changes in MLS procedures. It’s my understanding that some Airlines and Dell use Twitter to update clients. How can you use Twitter in your Appraisal Business? I have “@appraisalupdate” twitter account when it’s figured out.

Before I explain the 3 Possible Twitter Marketing Strategies, I first have to convince you of “WHY” Twitter is worth your time. Why should an appraiser care about Twitter? Twitter is a “Microblog” meaning Easy Google Indexing! That’s Why You Should Care! Here’s 2 Examples of Google Indexing My Recent Tweets:

Tweet Made From @appraisertips

Twitter is Important for Businesses; Need Convincing? – Website …
Oct 26, 2009 … Twitter Training For Real Estate Appraisers: What Is Follow Friday? | Real Estate Appraiser Tips | Home Appraiser Tips! wrote Twitter …

Tweet Made From @fhaappraiser received 11/04/2009 AND Google Indexed My Tweet within 27 minutes of posting it.

Appraisers In Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Business Report & First …
http://twitter.com/fhaappraiser Bill Cobb FHA Apprsr · 27 minutes ago. RT @ tweetmeme Appraisers In Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Business Report & First American …

NOTE: FOR MORE ON APPRAISERS USING A BLOG AND TWITTER AND GOOGLE INDEXING, SEE THE NEXT ISSUE OF WORKING RE MAGAZINE DUE OUT SOON!

3 LESSONS & THE 3 TWITTER MARKETING STRATEGIES:

Strategy #1.) Using Twitter As A Microblog Without Being Concerned About Followers! Do You Really Need 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 Twitter Followers? The Answer is NO! As one can see from Google Indexing my tweets, even if you didn’t have a single follower on your appraiser Twitter account, you could accomplish being indexed in Google for your local market. SEE COLUMN #1 below. That’s what Chris Alberre, with Alberre Appraisal Group, is accomplishing by using Twitter. Follow Chris @AlberreAprGroup

Strategy #2.) Build A Local Appraiser Twitter Account Concentrating On Gaining Followers From Your Local Housing Market(s)! And then, tweet local real estate related news items to them occasionally about local housing market trends, local real estate, etc.. Within this strategy, you do want to build a large local twitter follower base. SEE COLUMN #2 below. That’s what George Kimmel, with Focus One Appraisal, is accomplishing by using Twitter. In my opinion, George is one of the top 10 appraisers on Twitter because of the “value” he delivers in his tweets. Follow George @miamiappraiser

I saved the best for last. Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due! Before I begin with Strategy #3, let me say that Jonathan Miller, in New York With The Matrix Blog and Miller Samuel Inc., is the premier real estate blogger and was one of the first in our industry to adopt Twitter. Part of what I have learned about Appraiser Twitter Marketing is attributable to Jonathan Miller and I give him credit for that here. He’s been my silent mentor for several months now. Follow Jonathan Miller on Twitter @jonathanmiller

Strategy #3.) Using Twitter To Build Links and Attention To Your Appraiser Websites And Blogs. This is tweeting about recent articles you may have written or local market studies you’ve performed (aka the 1004MCs you perform daily). This can be an extension of Strategy #2, requiring a follower base, but linking your own local content. And, the example for this is located below in my 2nd Google Indexing Example:

Appraisers In Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Business Report & First …
http://twitter.com/fhaappraiser Bill Cobb FHA Apprsr · 27 minutes ago. RT @ tweetmeme Appraisers In Baton Rouge: Baton Rouge Business Report & First American …

One of Jonathan Miller’s recent tweets for his website or blog content was this:

“New on Matrix: [Matrix Hack] Medicinal Proof Housing Market Is Up http://bit.ly/4sCim2 “

How Can You As A New Appraiser on Twitter Use Strategy #3? You Can Read The Next Issue of Working RE Magazine Due Out Soon For The Answer!