An apparent cyberattack on title company First American is also disrupting life for a significant number of appraisers in Massachusetts thanks to a key piece of appraisal software the company makes.
Every parent, myself included, who has uttered the immortal words “money doesn’t grow on trees” was dead wrong, at least when it comes to residential real estate.
The real estate appraisal industry could be in for some significant changes as the Biden administration looks to make good on a campaign pledge to root out racial discrimination in the housing industry.
Vice President Kamala Harris will announce an action plan to stop racial discrimination in the appraisal of home values, according to senior Biden administration officials.
Vision Government Solutions, the Hudson-based provider of property database software for many Massachusetts municipalities, has received a “strategic majority investment” from a Colorado private equity firm.
If you are intent on buying a home during the pandemic, obtaining an appraisal shouldn’t stand in your way. But procuring a home inspection may be another question.
Massachusetts’ housing appraisers are concerned inaction by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is leaving them – and homebuyers – vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Some homebuyers are about to catch a break, courtesy of the Federal Reserve Board and other banking regulators.
A recent change in federal regulation could spur more commercial real estate lending at smaller banks.
Commercial investors will get more flexibility and save money on small-ticket transactions now that federal regulators have increased the threshold requiring an independent third-party appraisal.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a final rule that increases the threshold for commercial real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $500,000.
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have begun waiving on-site appraisals on a relatively small number of qualifying mortgages this summer, and instead are now relying on data they already have, along with publicly available data, to determine the market value of a property.
Do we always need an appraiser to tell us what a house is worth? The two biggest sources of mortgage financing in the country – Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – think not.
