Thursday, February 02, 2006

Mortgage Applications down

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 1, 2006) - The Mortgage Bankers Association(MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the weekending January 27. The Market Composite Index - a measure of mortgage loanapplication volume was 626.8 - a decrease of 5.1 percent on a seasonallyadjusted basis from 660.5 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, theIndex increased 9.1 percent compared with the previous week but was down12.1 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 8.0 percent to 435.7from 473.7 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 1.5percent to 1747.2 from 1773.9 one week earlier. Other seasonally adjustedindex activity includes the Conventional Index, which decreased 5.9percent to 924.7 from 982.6 the previous week, and the Government Index,which increased 5.3 percent to 129.9 from 123.4 the previous week.The four week moving average for the seasonally-adjusted Market Index isup 3.3 percent to 625.2 from 605.0. The four week moving average is up 1.0percent to 452.7 from 448.3 for the Purchase Index while this average isup 6.1 percent to 1666.0 from 1570.0 for the Refinance Index.The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.0 percent oftotal applications from 42.8 percent the previous week. Theadjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 30.5 percentof total applications from 29.5 percent the previous week.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Bennett Appraisals Serving SW Washington

Bennett Appraisals Serving SW Washington
Bennett Appraisals is a locally owned and operated Residential Appraisal Service.Typical appraisals include single family residences, multi- family properties (2-4 units), and residentially zoned vacant land for mortgage lending purposes.Other services provided are valuations for divorce, partnerships, tax assessment review, estate planning, zoning, employee relocation and cost vs. benefit analysis.www.bennett4appraisals.comBennett AppraisalsJeremy Bennett, Certified Residential Appraiser1695 N 9th St, Washougal, WA 98671cell: (360) 281-7289fax: (360) 838-0634

Why Hire A Technologically Advanced Appraiser?

We all know them. The guys with pounds of silicon hanging from their belts. Every new gadget that has hit the market in the past 10 years has done time around their waist. Call them geeks. Call them nerds. Call them what you will, but by all means, give them your appraisal business. Why? I'm glad you asked.Appraisers are, by far, the most technical agents in the real estate world. By necessity, they have been drawn into the digital world at a pace not seen by their colleagues. The appraisal process is one that lends itself to technology. And technology has paid significant dividends to those appraisers who have invested in it. These dividends are shared with the appraiser's customers, in the form of shorter turn-around times and a much better final valuation report.OrderingLet's start at the beginning. Millions of real estate transactions are processed each year in the United States. Almost all of them require some sort of appraisal. Technology has allowed savvy appraisers to reduce the amount of work their client's need to order, track and receive appraisals. In the past, the primary mode of interaction between an appraiser and his clients was the telephone and fax machine. Clients would send requests via fax, and then often follow it up with a phone call to make sure it was received. Tracking the progress of the appraisal meant more phone calls - a disruption for both the client and the appraiser.But the modern, technologically advanced appraiser has a better method. Using tools like this web site - complete with the ability to order appraisals on-line - allows clients to shave valuable time off the process of ordering and tracking appraisals. Technologies like a la mode's net.X network are advancing this concept even further, giving its users the ability to not only order appraisals, but track their progress all the way until delivery. No more annoying games of phone tag!Data GatheringThe appraisal process is nothing if not a data intensive process. Appraisers spend a lot of their time gathering both specific information about the subject property and general data about the local market and developing trends. Once again, technology has stepped in to help appraisers. In the past, the home inspection process has been the time consuming and difficult. To top it off, appraisers then had to come back to the office and transcribe their field notes into the appraisal file itself. No longer.Today's digital appraiser has several tools that can aid in gathering data in the field. Starting with tools like a la mode's Pocket TOTAL, appraisers are eliminating the duplicate data entry problems of the past. Tools like the Leica Disto Laser meter are making the measurements more accurate. And software like Apex's PocketApex allow the appraiser to sketch the house on the fly. All of this means that the appraiser can get the report done and delivered to the client in a fraction of the time it once took.On the other side of the data gathering coin is the general data. The Internet has revolutionized the ability of appraisers to get quality data in a fraction of the time it once took. Where once an appraiser would spend hours finding the right location maps and then rubbing on decals, the modern appraiser gets his maps with a few mouse clicks, complete with location markers. And flood maps? Likewise just a few clicks away using services like a la mode's FloodSource. Standardized addressing, accurate postal coding, census tract information, are all at their fingertips. This ensures that the final report is as complete and accurate as possible, requiring fewer call-backs and revisions. A real money saver for busy appraisal clients.Report deliveryThe report is done. Now how is the digital appraiser going to leverage his investment in technology to improve the delivery process? Modern appraisers have forsaken the old print-and-snail mail route for a much more efficient electronic delivery system. Utilizing Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) files, an appraiser can deliver a complete, multi-page report, complete with digital photos and maps, through simple e-mail. Now, instead of waiting for the daily mail, or paying for expensive courier services, appraisal customers can simply log into their company email system and retrieve all the appraisals at one time. Without wasting and paper printing the appraisal, it can be routed to the appropriate loan officer or title company in the blink of an electron.More advanced organizations are leveraging a la mode's net.X network to not only order appraisals, but also to manage the delivery process. Before an appraisal is ever delivered, this cutting edge technology reviews the report and ensures that it meets certain guidelines. Have enough comparables been used? Has the appraiser included a statement of limiting conditions? These items can be checked automatically and the appraiser notified of the deficiency without the client ever getting involved. Now, when the final report is received, the client can be sure the appraisal meets all the basic criteria. Once again, costly follow up and revisions are avoided, lowering everybody's cost of doing business.Digital WorkfileIt would be wonderful if appraisers could complete a report, deliver it and never worry about seeing that document again. But one of the purposes of an appraisal is as a legal document outlining the condition of the property at the time of sale. So appraisers must keep their reports for 5 years, allowing them to recall any appraisal at any time to either defend the valuation or to be used in other legal proceedings.Here again, the digital appraiser leverages his investment in technology to improve service. By storing every aspect of the appraisal - notes, sketches, supporting documentation and calculations - along with the appraisal, the professional is able to retrieve that report at any time within the five years and recall just what that report was about. And this data is not stored in boxes stacked 5 deep in some rented warehouse. Instead, the digital appraiser uses technology like a la mode's Digital Workfile to electronically include all supporting documents as part of the appraisal file. These files are stored securely on searchable media, such as a la mode's Vault, where the appraiser can find them in a fraction of the time required in the past. This helps appraisal clients by giving them immediate, virtual access to any appraisal they've ordered within the past 5 years.These are just a few examples of how technologically advanced appraisers are improving the business workflows of their customers. Investing in the right software, services, gadgets and gizmos allows the appraiser to deliver reports quicker, more efficiently and with higher degrees of accuracy. All of which helps keep the appraiser's costs down, and save his clients time and money.
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Bennett Appraisals 1695 N 9th Street Washougal, WA 98671Phone: (360) 281-7289 Cell: (360) 281-7289 Fax: (360) 838-0634 E-mail: bennettappraisals@comcast.net

Greenspan replaced by Bernanke

The Senate Tuesday confirmed Ben S. Bernanke as the chairman and a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Fed said late Tuesday.
A private swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Federal Reserve Board.
The confirmation took place on Alan Greenspan's last day as head of the Fed after helming the bank for 18-and-a-half years.
Bernanke, chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers since June, joins the Fed at a time when the office has been raising rates consistently and the housing market appears to be normalizing or perhaps heading for a slowdown.
The Senate approved the former Fed governor by voice vote after a short debate, Reuters reported. He won high praise from both Republicans and Democrats, according to Reuters.
Bernanke will be sworn in on Wednesday for a renewable four-year term at the helm of the U.S. central bank, along with a 14-year term on the Fed's board.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, called him a "solid, thoughtful" person who is well qualified for the job, Reuters said.
"He is erudite, he is smart," Schumer told Reuters. "And he is one of those rare people who has made monetary policy his life's work."
Many supporters, as well as financial markets, have said they find comfort in Bernanke's promises to adhere to Greenspan's approach to monetary policy.
One Republican, a longtime critic of the Greenspan Fed, opposed the nomination, Reuters said. U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky said Bernanke failed to show enough independence on the Fed board and complained the central bank suffered from "group think," media reports said.
The 52-year-old Bernanke served at the Fed for nearly three years before he moved to the White House.