Property Assessment

Remodeling - Will it Carryover to Resale Value

There are many reasons for wanting to remodel your home.  Some decisions relate to how long you plan to live in your home and your particular needs as an owner or investor.  But if you are concerned with resale value, you may want to see the Cost vs. Value Report 2013 by Remodeling Magazine (Hanley Wood, LLC).  The report is conveniently available on their website at www.costvsvalue.com.

The U.S. is broken into 9 regions shown in list form or on a color map, which when clicked on can be broken down further into metropolitan areas within the region. For example the Pacific Region includes the western coastal states of the continental U.S. and Alaska and Hawaii.  But if you click on that region you can select a report for Anchorage, Alaska, or Portland, Oregon, for example.

In order to download the Cost vs. Value Report 2013 that I wanted for Portland, Oregon, I had to fill out a free registration and short survey, but it took less than two minutes. As a property valuation specialist, I'll be able to refer to the report many times until next year's report comes out, so my return on time invested was well worth it.

By the way, the website includes reports back to 2002.  This could be a very useful resource for someone performing an appraisal where date of valuation is not the current value (say for inheritance purposes) or if you want to research trends over a period of time for certain remodeling types.  For example, you might want to know the trend in cost vs. value for basement remodeling for midrange homes in your area.

Tell me how you might use the report in the work that you do.

More to the Point, I Need a To-Stop-Doing List

Changing Potentially Destructive Habits

If you are like most of us, you have a to-do list you mark off as items are competed.  I’ve been using to-do lists in some form or another (handwritten, computer generated, PDA, or phone) for many years.  Author Chris Guillebeau advocates a To-Stop-Doing List.

In Gillebeau’s words “Your to-stop-doing-list is exactly what it sounds like: a list of things you simply don’t want to do anymore.”  Energy draining tasks, time wasters, and efforts that don’t contribute to your overall goals, are among the suggestions. Your to-stop-doing list needs to be uniquely your own.  You are the only one who knows your daily routines and practices.

As for me, my to-stop-doing list includes:

• Watching Television – The male population in the United States between 40 and 55 years of age watches an average of 4.5 hours of television each day.  Just think of what you could do with those same hours!
• Abusing E-mail – This includes checking for incoming e-mails too often and reading e-mails that just aren’t useful.  I’m limiting my check of incoming e-mails to twice a day (and telling everyone of this practice by way of an autoresponder) and eliminating e-mails through greater attention to subject headings and sender name.  According to author Bill Jensen you can delete up to 75% of your e-mails through the use of e-mail scanning strategies.
• Getting Lost in Internet Searches -  I’m guilty of going off on Internet search tangents if I don’t write down a quick note stating what I’m searching for and why.  The and why part is critical for me.  I could keep searching forever because I thoroughly enjoy researching topics.  However, to be an efficient researcher I need to set time limits and stick to them.

Of course my to-stop-doing list is longer than three items.  Gillebeau encourages us to come up with at least three to five things that you currently do but should stop doing.

Isn’t that the sound of New Years’ resolutions approaching?

Data Sources for the Valuation of Commercial Real Estate

 

We recently completed a compilation of 22 tips and 37 websites that are of interest to commercial real estate investors. Although it was originally written to assist appraisers and property tax assessors, property owners, investors, and asset managers will benefit because:

• It gives them a peek behind the curtain to reveal how appraisers and local assessors approach the valuation of there investment properties; and
• It provides an opportunity to employ some of the mass-appraisal techniques used by assessors to quickly value a large portfolio of properties or identify investment opportunities.

Entitled “Data Sources for the Valuation of Commercial and Industrial Properties” the fact sheet is an effective way to outline your data sources for monitoring real estate investment opportunities and trends, and can be used as a means of contacting these sources of information. The full-text fact sheet is free when you opt-in to receive our Commercial Real Estate newsletter, a monthly e-mail to subscribers that notifies commercial property owners and investors of items of interest related to real estate valuation, tax compliance, and tax management. A two page sample of the fact sheet can be viewed by clicking here.

Or click here to sign up now and receive the free fact sheet within the next 24 hours. Of course you can unsubscribe at any time and the fact sheet is yours to keep.

If you like the information provided in the fact sheet let your friends and colleagues know about it.

 

List of More Than 275 Websites for Property Assessment and Valuation

 

Identified for Ease of Use by Busy Property Valuation Specialists

I just completed a list of more than 275 websites that I have been compiling since 2006.  Each website link was accessed and updated in September to be sure that there are not broken links. 

The full-text resource guide is free when you sign up to receive our Property Assessment e-Alerts.  A sample of the resource guide can be viewed by clicking here.  E-Alerts are sent about once every two months to subscribers to notify them of items of interest to real estate appraisers, assessors, and others interested in property valuation.  Of course you can unsubscribe at any time.

These websites shown in the resource guide will be very useful to:

• Academics in the field of local government administration and tax policy
• Appraisers
• Assessors
• Bankers, lenders, and mortgage loan specialists
• Commercial real estate developers and investors
• Property tax administrators
• Tax agents and corporate representatives
• Tax specialists

E-Alerts are sent about once each month to subscribers to notify them of items of interest to real estate appraisers, assessors, and others interested in property valuation.  Of course you can unsubscribe at any time.

Please let us know of additional websites that you would like to see added to the list in upcoming editions.  If you like the list let your friends and colleagues know about it. 

Clever Summer Reads

Best Book Recommendations for Career Advancement

Whether you are taking limited time off and staying around home or taking a long and exotic vacation, if you’re like me you’ll want some reading material for entertainment.  I usually bring a few books (in paperback or e-reader version) that are just for fun and some for education.  If you consider yourself to be a lifelong student, as I do, you may enjoy one or more of the following books for your summer reading pleasure.

I’ve read each of these dozen books over the last 18 months and recommend them all for various reasons.  Six are what I call traditional books on their topics and the other six are non-traditional.  I consider them non-traditional because the author takes a unique and sometimes controversial approach to the subject.  I recommend these non-traditional books to even the most conservative readers if for no other reason than to discover what new thinking is out there and what your employees or job candidates may be thinking. 

Many of these books are available in paperback, e-reader, or audio versions.

Traditional

The First 90 Days in Government by Peter H. Daly and Michael Watkins

The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by George B. Brandt, Jayne A. Check, and Jorge E. Pedraza.

You’re In Charge - Now What? by Thomas Neff and James M. Citrin

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels by Michael Watkins

StrengthsFinders 2.0 by Tom Rath

Right From the Start: Taking Charge in A New Leadership Role by Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins

Non-traditional

The Art of Non-conformity by Chris Guillebeau

The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman

Living for the Weekday by Clint Swindall

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Free Agent Nation by Daniel Pink

Please comment on these or your own favorite books so that our readers can benefit from your experiences and insight.