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by Scott Harpole
Thank you so much for this article. I am in the field right now, taking FHA comp photos, in a rural area. All of my photos are of driveways with No Trespassing signs, and of mailboxes because the comparable homes cannot be seen from the gravel roads. This driving around for more than an hour doesn’t make sense.
-by David Greenberg
This is in response to Winter 2021 Original Comp Photos … by Damian Downie
I read your article and sympathize and empathize with your issues. I have been there many times over my appraisal career.
All good points but there is another that you did not touch on that is equally valid. It is also getting worse in this season of the hybrid apprasai.
If I do not see the comaprables each time in their full context I may miss something important and 3rd party photos including MLS are notorious for not showing full context.
Appraisers are not innocent either. What am I talking about? The home in which the view is not shown (it is the underside of a freeway bridge); the adjacent tank farm; the adjacent auto body shop and so on and so forth.
If I rely on MLS, I may have no idea these potential external adverse factors exist and if I do, it is a lot easier to judge their influence if I see it for myself. I no this is probably well less than 1% of appraisals that are so effected but for me, once is enough. It has probably been over 20 years since I encountered the freeway bridge and tank farm scenarios and yet I still remember them well.
Perrthaps we can streamline the process but let’s be very cautious about eliminating. Take the photos.
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