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Archive for April, 2011

April 28, 2011 Is Your Home Underwater? Then Don’t do Anything Illegal!

The foreclosure crisis has caused many problems – lost money, lost homes, and prison overcrowding. Well, that last one is more of an indirect result, but connections can definitely be made. With so many homeowners underwater, bail bondsmen typically will no longer accept homes as the collateral necessary to post bail. Historically, family homes kept [...]

April 26, 2011 The Purple Rain of Foreclosure

The real estate market is bad. Very bad. Sales of single-family homes in February were the lowest since records started being kept in 1963. And nearly half of the housing market is distressed properties. Still, you wouldn’t expect it to affect multi-platinum rock ‘n’ roll hall of famer Prince. Prince surely didn’t assume it would. [...]

April 21, 2011 Present Value LLC’s Move into the International Appraisal Business and Why it Will Benefit Our Clients

You may or may not have noticed a few months back that we changed the description of Present Value LLC from “a nationwide appraisal firm” to “an international appraisal and advisory firm.” In addition to continuing to serve clients across the U.S., we have been working with businesses all over the world, including Canada, Europe, [...]

April 19, 2011 New Orders Given to Big Banks

Last week, U.S. regulators gave large banks orders to change the way they handle borrowers who are having difficulty repaying loans. This is in response to an ongoing effort to deal with alleged mortgage abuses. The orders say that banks have 60 days to put plans in place that will eliminate documentation errors. Banks are [...]

April 14, 2011 Was the Dodd-Frank Act Passed Too Quickly?

As we noted in a recent blog post, The Down Payment Blues, the Dodd-Frank Act – which was the first modernization of U.S. real estate appraisal regulations since the Financial Institutions Reform Recover and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) of 1989 – contains a little-known regulation that requires a 20% down payment for a home loan. This [...]

April 12, 2011 Good News for Small Business Owners: Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) Budget Safe for Now

Over the last few weeks, there is has been little news coming out of Washington that didn’t have to do with the battle over the 2011 federal budget. While many federal agencies will see significant reductions in their budgets, the large proposed funding cuts for the Small Business Administration (SBA) and loan guarantee programs did [...]

April 7, 2011 A House with a Past

It’s like a real life Amityville Horror. There’s a beautiful house available in a fabulous neighborhood in New York with very little turn-over, but the house just won’t sell. A murder took place in the home. The home was appraised at well over a million dollars, but the realtor has to keep dropping the selling [...]

April 5, 2011 When Is a Good Time to Get a Business Valuation?

A recent article in Smart Business highlights the multiple uses of business valuations. It covers some of the questions that many business owners may have about business valuations. According to the article, some economists are predicting that there will be in an increase in mergers and acquisitions this year, so it might be a good [...]

April 2, 2011 The Down Payment Blues

When the Dodd-Frank Act was passed last year, there was much rejoicing in the real estate appraisal community. It was the first modernization of U.S. real estate appraisal regulations since the Financial Institutions Reform Recover and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) was enacted in 1989, and it meant more protection for consumers. Lost in the celebration, however, [...]