Collateral Vision

Grim Math: 1 Foreclosed Home Decreases Neighborhood's Home Values

Lynda Edwards — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:52:20 GMT

An Massachusetts Institute of Technology studey calculates that every foreclosure decreases the value by 1% of all homes within 250 feet. The study examined the sales of 1.8 million Massachusetts homes for the past 22 years. Banks got no bargains when they try to sell a foreclosed home. The MIT study said the average sale price for a foreclosed home was 27% less than the appraised value.

MIT economist Parag Pathak worked with two Harvard researchers, John Y....

Appraisal Institute Praises Senate for Passing Financial Reform Bill

--Valuation Review — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:40:19 GMT

The Appraisal Institute applauded the U.S. Senate for passing a sweeping financial regulatory reform bill that includes the first modernization of real estate appraisal regulations in more than 20 years. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (HR 4173) is the first overhaul of appraisal regulations since the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) was enacted in 1989.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign it...

TSI Appraisal Services is Hiring More than 100 Staff Appraisers

Lynda Edwards — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:09:09 GMT

Most appraisers bear war wounds from this bleak economy and some have seen their livlihoods dwindle away completely. Finally, we have some good news to report to job-hunting appraisers; TSI Appraisal Services announced last week that it will hire more than 100 staff appraisers nationwide.

Troy, Michigan-based TSI has been recognized by Fortune as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America for four consecutive years. TSI...

Almost One Third of America’s Poor Now Live in Suburbs

--Lynda Edwards — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:19:11 GMT

Ward, June, Wally and Beaver Cleaver had little reason to venture into the dangerous big city because everything they needed was in their heavenly suburb. Even in the skanky world of Desperate Housewives, the suburbs seem shiny, bright, secure and prosperous. For decades, suburbs were the place city dwellers fled to once they were rich enough to leave the crowded, crime-prone city. But according to a Brookings Institution research report, almost one third of all of America’s poor now...

Does the Home Valuation Code of Conduct Have a Future?

Neil Olson, FNC Chief Legal Officer — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 01:05:19 GMT

The original March 2008 agreements between the Attorney General of New York, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (now the Federal Housing Finance Agency) and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that established the Home Valuation Code of Conduct will expire in November 2010 (originally July 2010). After that, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer obligated to maintain the HVCC.

In addition, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,...