FROM THE READERS:Letters

Guesses are not Appraisals

I am an appraiser member of NAR. I pay full dues, yet my profession is continually snubbed by NAR. The November issue of REALTOR® magazine is no exception.

The article “Beyond brokerage” (November 2007, page FB12) states that, “Home owners can log onto the company Web site to learn the current value of their home.”

This statement is both misleading and false. Only appraisers are legally qualified to value real estate. Online Automated Valuation Models are not appraisals, and the legality of such online value estimates is still being debated. The service they offer is not valuation but an automated guess. Why you insist on misleading the reader here, while missing a prime opportunity to educate REALTORS® about the appraisal process, is beyond me.

It would have been more truthful to state that anyone can log onto the Web site for an AVM-based value estimate but that the estimate is not an appraisal. You could even have gone so far as to suggest hiring an independent appraiser for a realistic valuation, but instead you implied that an AVM is just as good.

What if an article in your magazine said, “Log on to the Web site to find out how you can sell your home all by yourself?” Would that have passed the editor’s desk? I doubt it. Yet that is what the article’s AVM statement amounts to.

—Chad Bennett, Chad Bennett Appraisals Inc., Santa Fe. N.M.

Editor’s response: You raise an essential point that only independent appraisers can provide a realistic valuation of a house, and the reference to Clientor’s online “equity viewer” wasn’t intended to suggest otherwise. Rather, it was presented as a value-added feature brokers can offer clients to get a snapshot of recent comparable home sales. Henry Pham, broker-owner of Clientor, says of his equity viewer, “It represents estimated values based on data, and not appraised values. We always advise our clients about the importance of professional appraisals when it comes to getting a new loan or making buying and selling decisions.”

Climate Change is Not Political

“NAR has not taken a position on climate change.” I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or scream at your ridiculous response to Craig Dunkerley’s letter (Incentives aren’t enough, November 2007, page 11). Climate change is not a political issue, and I don’t know how much more evidence you need to realize that this is a problem that we need to address now. The federal government, unfortunately, has made it all about politics and of course special interest groups. As REALTORS®, we need to be in the forefront in demanding that changes be made. Please get your head out of the sand.

— David Fink, Houlihan Lawrence, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.

Some Words About Texting

Thanks to Amy Chorew for her interesting stats on the surge of text messaging (“Talking Fingers,” October 2007, page 26). I would like to add a cautionary note. Amy mentions that TMs can be costly to the sender but fails to mention that they can be costly to the receiver as well. Most cell phone plans charge both parties. Before you TM, check with your client; otherwise you may “imagine how impressed” they will be, then find yourself sorely mistaken.

— Sara C. Maddock, Prudential Snyder & Co., REALTORS®, Ann Arbor, Mich.