Appraisal Archives

2024 USPAP: Nondiscrimination Enhancements to the ETHICS RULE

John Manfred2024-01-23T16:23:20-05:00February 21st, 2024|Categories: Appraisal, Approved Continuing Education|Tags: 7 Hour National USPAP Update|

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, 2024 USPAP have tirelessly formulated and enforced the ethical and performance mandates for US appraisers over the years. Amidst rising concerns over the ambiguous language perceived to facilitate discrimination. The Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) has taken decisive steps to rectify this. This blog post offers a detailed examination of the revised ETHICS RULE, specifically the Nondiscrimination section, and outlines its implications for the 2024 USPAP The Revised Nondiscrimination of the ETHICS RULE Recent years have shed light on the alleged discriminatory practices in appraisals. Propelling the ASB to meticulously modify the ETHICS RULE [...]

Riding the Tides of the Housing Market in 2024

John Manfred2024-01-19T11:52:13-05:00January 21st, 2024|Categories: Appraisal|Tags: 2024 Housing Market|

Riding the tides of the Housing Market in 2024. Picture this: after cresting the peak in the preceding years, the market surged downhill dramatically, with sales of pre-existing homes recording a precipitous drop of 19% year-over-year. Consequently, this market chill is reflected in the median home price. Which ascended to a notch of $387,600 in November 2023, a 4% rise from the preceding year, despite the stinging winds of turbulence. Furthermore, mortgage rates echoed the gale of instability, dipping and rising unpredictably. Culminating in an average of 6.9% in the fateful year of 2023, following a spike beyond the 7% [...]

Up Your Game As A Real Estate Appraiser

John Manfred2026-07-18T08:43:21-04:00January 17th, 2024|Categories: Appraisal, Appraiser Assistant, Approved Continuing Education, Membership|Tags: Appraiser Continuing Education, Manfred Membership|

Sharpen your real estate appraiser skills like never before and welcome the new year with unparalleled know-how and insight. With New York State requiring a generous 28 hours of Continuing Education (CE) for Real Estate Appraisers, including everyone's favorites - the 7 hour USPAP Update and Fair Housing and Fair Lending topics, it's time to step up your game. Behold, Manfred Real Estate Learning Center! Manfred Real Estate Learning Center is the premier provider of real estate appraiser education in New York State. We offer a wide range of courses that will help you meet your CE requirements. Our instructors [...]

Exploring GSE Requirements for Desktop Appraisals

John Manfred2024-02-08T21:11:39-05:00May 1st, 2023|Categories: Appraisal, Appraiser Assistant, Approved Continuing Education, Continuing Education, Real Estate Broker|Tags: Appraisal Business, Florida Appraiser, New York Appraiser, Real Estate Broker|

The desktop appraisal process has become increasingly important to the real estate appraising industry. As such, it is essential that all appraisers understand how to properly comply with GSE requirements when conducting a desktop appraisal. Exploring GSE requirements for desktop appraisals will cover the various requirements and steps you need to take to ensure compliance. Definition of a Desktop Appraisal A desktop appraisal is an appraisal report that is prepared using data from third-party sources without any physical inspection of the subject property. This type of appraisal is typically used for low value properties. For example manufactured homes and small [...]

How to Finance Your Purchase using FHA /VA and Conforming Loans

John Manfred2024-02-08T21:03:19-05:00April 1st, 2023|Categories: Appraisal, Florida Real Estate, Mlo, Real Estate, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Business Tools|Tags: Florida Real Estate, New York Real Estate, real estate agent, Real Estate Broker|

Trying to decide which loan is best for you when purchasing a home can be overwhelming. How to Finance Your Purchase using FHA /VA and conforming loans. Do you go with an FHA loan, VA loan, or a conforming loan? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each type of loan and how to finance your purchase using FHA, VA and conforming loans. FHA Loans Generally speaking, FHA loans have been looked upon as loans for second class borrowers. However, these loans have actually helped hard working Americans fulfill their dreams of owning their own home since [...]

Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Handling Difficult Clients

John Manfred2023-08-02T15:11:51-04:00March 15th, 2023|Categories: Advance Your Career, Appraisal, Appraiser Assistant, Florida Real Estate, Home Inspection, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Business Tools|Tags: Florida Appraiser, Florida Real Estate, Home Inspector Business, New York Appraiser, New York Real Estate, real estate agent, Real Estate Broker|

The most successful real estate professionals are the ones who can thrive despite facing challenges from challenging clients. However, an agent's answer to a demanding client requires strategic planning and sensitivity. Excellent agents and brokers can quickly figure out the issues and make sound, forward-thinking judgments. Customers, whether difficult or not, are not all the same. This is why there has to be a plan in place for agents to detect and handle customer problems quickly. We've created this real estate agent's guide to handling difficult clients to get you started. Understand Difficult Clients Continuous learning is key to becoming a [...]

How to Properly Determine Homeowners Insurance

John Manfred2024-02-08T21:01:31-05:00March 1st, 2023|Categories: Appraisal, Appraiser Assistant, Continuing Education, Real Estate, Real Estate Broker|Tags: Appraisal Business, Florida Real Estate, New York Real Estate, Real Estate Broker|

As real estate professionals, it is essential to determine the proper homeowners insurance coverage for our clients. Not only must we make sure that our clients are adequately protected in the event of a disaster, but we must also ensure that they are not overpaying for coverage they don’t need or underpaying for coverage they do. So how can we know that we have recommended the correct insurance policy and amount of coverage? Let's take a look at what you need to consider when how to properly determine homeowners insurance. Types of Insurance Policies The first step when determining homeowners [...]

How to Select Good Comparables for Appraisals

John Manfred2026-07-18T09:02:45-04:00February 1st, 2023|Categories: Appraisal, Appraiser Assistant, Approved Continuing Education, Florida Real Estate, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Business Tools|Tags: Florida Appraiser, Florida Real Estate, New York Appraiser, New York Real Estate, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Business Tools|

Real estate appraisers must consider many factors when determining a property's worth. One of the key components is selecting comparable properties. This process can be tricky. As there are many factors to consider and it requires more than just finding homes with similar square footage. Let’s look at some of the criteria for how to select good comparables for appraisals. What is a Comparable? A comparable is a property that has recently sold in the same market as the one being evaluated. The more similar the comparable is to the subject property, both in terms of location and physical attributes, [...]

How to Prepare an Unbiased Real Estate Report

John Manfred2026-07-18T08:56:36-04:00January 15th, 2023|Categories: Appraisal, Continuing Education, Home Inspection, Real Estate|Tags: Appraisal Business, New York Appraiser, New York Real Estate, Real Estate Broker, Real Estate Business Tools|

Preparing a real estate report can be daunting. It is important to make sure that the report you compose is accurate and unbiased. As a real estate professional, it is your responsibility to ensure that all information provided in the report is factually correct and not influenced by any personal biases or opinions. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the best practices for how to prepare an unbiased real estate report. Gather Information from Multiple Sources When composing a real estate report, it is essential to do your research and gather information from multiple sources. This helps [...]

Essential Tax Tips for Real Estate Agents

John Manfred2024-02-08T16:49:59-05:00November 15th, 2022|Categories: Appraisal, Home Inspection, Real Estate Business Tools|

Taxes are never easy to slog through, especially if you decide to work as your boss and even grow your business! So, we would like to help you with our essential tax tips for real estate agents. Necessary extensions Let us preface the more detailed essential tax tips for real estate agents to first tackle an important topic: tax filing deadlines. Now, your first year of doing business will likely be very hectic and challenging. You might find yourself in a position where you won’t make it in time to file all your taxes. So, what exactly should you do [...]