Interior and Exterior Home Inspection from A to Z – DVD – Real Estate Home Inspector, Homeowner, Home Buyer and Seller Survival Kit Series (Real Estate Appraisal)

Interior and Exterior Home Inspection from A to Z – DVD – Real Estate Home Inspector, Homeowner, Home Buyer and Seller Survival Kit Series Don’t let your dream house be a nightmare in disguise! Everything you need to know about Real Estate – from Asbestos to Zoning. This 5-star rated DVD has over an hour of video and as an added bonus you also get the 80 page HIB DVD Companion Guide e-Book. This DVD shows the precise steps to follow to inspect all of the INTERIOR and EXTERIOR of a home.

The INTERIOR and EXTERIOR DVD topics include: roof, chimneys, siding, eaves, gutters, drainage and grading, windows, walkways, entrances and porches, driveways, walls and fences, patios and terraces, decks, swimming pools, exterior structures, wood destroying insects, garage, kitchen, bathrooms, floors and stairs, walls and ceilings, windows and doors, fireplaces, attics, ventilation, insulation, basement/lower level, water penetration.

The OPERATING SYSTEMS inspection topics are covered in our other DVD that can be purchased separately. The OPERATING SYSTEMS DVD topics include: heating systems (gas, oil, steam, hot water, and hot air heating), air-conditioning, water heaters, plumbing, well water system, septic system, electrical system, gas service, and auxiliary systems. Health Concerns topics including: asbestos insulation, radon gas, and water testing.

This is definitely the best home inspection DVD series on the market! Created by Guy Cozzi who is a licensed appraiser, home inspector, consultant, and real estate investor. This top selling author has been quoted as a real estate expert by the New York Times and many other publications. He has been a guest speaker on real estate investment TV shows for years. Guy Cozzi has taught thousands of people how to inspect, appraise and invest in real estate and provides advice to many banks and mortgage lenders.
Customer Review: Found this dvd to be the best overall for checking my house
This dvd was the best overall choice I made when buying books and dvds to learn about house maintenance, construction and home inspections. It would have been helpful if I purchased this sooner when I was working alongside the builder who built my house.

I wasn’t aware the builders only have to follow the minimum standards with construction. After learning from the dvd I realized there were parts of the construction process that my builder could have improved upon to exceed the minimum standards.

The company that produced the dvd has other books and dvds which have received 5 star ratings from Amazon Top 50 reviewers. That was the basis for my purchase decision since I know that those reviews are always valid and trustworthy.

The dvd comes with a free download guidebook that had additional information and explains what topics are and are not covered on a $20 dvd which made sense to me. For $20 it’s a great deal and wonderful information. If I need more details on any particular topic due to the limits of a dvd length then I have the dvd guidebook and this company’s 400+ page home inspection book which covers everything in great detail. Each dvd in the series discussed different part of the home.

Interior and Exterior home inspection dvd topics include: roof, chimneys, siding, eaves, gutters, drainage and grading, windows, walkways, entrances and porches, driveways, walls and fences, patios and terraces, decks, swimming pools, exterior structures, wood destroying insects, garage, kitchen, bathrooms, floors and stairs, walls and ceilings, windows and doors, fireplaces, attics, ventilation, insulation, basement/lower level, water penetration.

Operating Systems home inspection dvd topics include: heating systems (gas, oil, steam, hot water, and hot air heating), air-conditioning, water heaters, plumbing, well water system, septic system, electrical system, gas service, and auxiliary systems. Health Concerns topics including: asbestos insulation, radon gas, and water testing.

Essential Tips for Real Estate Appraisals (Real Estate Appraisal)

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When you have the perfect home picked out and you know this is the home you want, your lender will require you to have an appraisal upon the request to use the home as security for a loan. A real estate appraisal will help in establishing a property’s market value, the sales price it would probably bring the seller, if offered in an open and competitive real estate market.

The reason the lender requires the real estate appraisal is because they want to ensure that the property would sell for at least the amount of money you require for your loan. Simply put, if the lender should ever have to foreclose, they want to ensure they would be able to get their moneys worth.

A real estate appraisal is not to be confused with a comparative market analysis (CMA). Real estate agents commonly use a CMA as a tool to determine a realistic asking price for home sellers. Although, an experienced agent may come extremely close to an appraisal price with the CMA, an real estate appraisal’s report include a lot more detailed information, not to mention the fact that it is the only evaluation report a bank will accept when making the decision of whether or not to loan money.

When having a home appraised for this purpose you should have an appraiser that is an objective third party. The appraiser should have no financial or any other connection with either party involved. If you have never experienced a real estate appraisal before, here are a few things that are included in the report.

There will be many details about the property in question as well as side-by-side comparisons of three different properties like it. There will be an evaluation of the areas overall real estate market. Any issues an appraiser feels can be harmful to the value of the property. Notations about any serious flaws will also be made; these are all coupled with many other items on the detailed appraisal report.

Real estate appraisals come in two different methods for appraising homes. There is the sales comparison method where the market value is estimated by comparing the property to other similar properties that has been sold in the same area. This method uses the similar properties to make several estimates of what they would have sold for if they had the same feature as the property in question.

Then there is the cost method, this is generally used for new properties when the costs of building is known. In this method, the appraiser estimates the costs involved in replacement of the structure if it were to be destroyed.

It is important to note that you should not depend on an appraisal to help you determine if the home is in satisfactory condition. This is a job for a home inspector. During a real estate appraisal, the appraise may take notes about obvious issues, however they will not test appliances, inspect the chimney or roof.

About the Author

Rory H. Hawkins writes about real estate appraisal and other interesting topics. For more information on real estate appraisals visit us today.

Protesting Commercial Property (Real Estate Appraisal) Taxes

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Are you accustomed to seeing large numbers in the “property taxes due” column of tax statements? Property owners in Texas, a state with notoriously high property taxes, may be forced to budget a “big chunk” of their operating budgets each year for property taxes. You should always be looking for a way to increase the return on your investment, and reducing property tax expenses can have a significant impact on your bottom line.

Market Value vs. Assessed Value Many investors have asked why Texas property taxes keep increasing even though their revenue has declined and operating expenses have increased. Since appraisal districts value so many properties, they are often not aware of “softness” in a submarket. In addition, some appraisal districts have been slow to recognize the huge increases in insurance expenses. Since property taxes are such a material expense, investors have realized they need to review assessments annually. Most Texas real estate investors appeal their property tax assessment annually.

Why Property Taxes are Important Property taxes are one of the largest line item expenses incurred by property owners. When attempting to cut excess property taxes, even sophisticated property owners may not know all their rights. For instance, the current Texas Property Tax Code allows property owners to seek an equity adjustment based on comparable properties that are appropriately adjusted.

Does Unequal Appraisal Apply at Informal Hearings? The legislature also introduced a provision in 1997 attempting to allow property owners to appeal on unequal appraisal during the administrative hearing process (informal and appraisal review board hearings). Unfortunately, the wording of the statute was not clear. Some appraisal districts have chosen not to consider appeals based on unequal appraisal at the administrative hearings. It’s a shame that many appraisal districts rebuff administrative appeals based on unequal assessment. Property owners become very angry when they feel they have been taxed unfairly. Fortunately, most cases of inequitable assessment can be resolved through a judicial appeal.

Why Aren’t Properties Assessed Equally? You may be wondering why properties aren’t assessed equitably. Reasons include data errors, focusing on recent sales and inconsistencies in the informal and appraisal review board hearings due to the personal element. Since an appraisal district may track over a million real property accounts, it is unrealistic to expect all of the data to be accurate (the large number of properties also affects their ability to accurately estimate your property’s value). Overstating the quality of one property while understating the quality of another property could lead to an inequitable assessment. At times, some appraisal districts have focused on recent sales without reassessing all the properties in the surrounding area.

Once the preliminary research is completed, the owner should determine the market value of the property and whether it is in line with the total assessed value. There are three approaches that are employed in concluding market value: cost, income and market. The property’s occupancy rate, rental rate, operating expenses, net operating income and other factors, as well as sales prices of comparable properties, are valuable sources of information in determining market value. If the property owner determines that the assessed value is higher than the market value of his property, he should file a protest with the local appraisal district. This can be done either by the property owner or his designated agent. Property tax protests must be filed by May 31 in Texas; deadlines vary by state.

Preparing for Your Hearing Once a protest has been filed, a protest hearing will be scheduled. Four types of data should be compiled for the hearing: pictures of the subject property, an income analysis, comparable sales data and assessment comparables. Pictures of the subject property should indicate the quality and condition of the improvements on the property. If there is deferred maintenance, document it with pictures and bids. An income analysis should include a profit and loss statement for the previous year and a rent roll for a date near January 1 of the current tax year (most states use January 1 as the effective date for assessment.) The analysis should also detail market rent, market vacancy and market expenses (including reserve for replacement) to derive net operating income for the property (neither depreciation nor debt service should be deducted when calculating net operating income).

If your property has above-market occupancy or rental rates or below-market operating expenses, you should make adjustments when calculating net operating income. If you operate your own property, your income analysis should include an allowance for labor and management fees (if they are not in the profit and loss statement). Revenue not directly related to real estate rental (box sales, truck rentals, etc.) should be excluded. Related expenses should also be excluded. The net operating income is then capitalized to derive an indication of value for the property.

An appraisal may be appropriate to support the value conclusion. Comparable sales are given strong consideration at the hearing because they are an indication of market value. Data from sales of comparable properties for the past year or two should be collected and reviewed. Assessment comparables are given strong consideration at some appraisal districts but not considered at others. Pictures of competing properties that are assessed for less than your property can be an effective tool for cutting your property taxes. Prepare a table summarizing your property and the assessment comparables.

Attending Your Hearing(s) (Informal and Appraisal Review Board) Once all the pertinent data has been collected and analyzed, the protest hearing process begins. The initial protest hearing is called an “informal” hearing. The informal hearing involves a meeting between the owner, or his designated representative, and an appraiser from the appraisal district. If the owner is not satisfied with the offer made by the appraiser, he may proceed to the next level of the protest process, an appraisal review board hearing (in some states this is referred to as the board of equalization). The appraisal review board hearing, also referred to as the “formal” hearing, involves a meeting with members of the appraisal review board, an appraiser from the county appraisal district (who may be different from the appraiser at the informal hearing) and the owner or his designated representative. The Appraisal Review Board panel may set a value which is equal to, lower than or higher than the level proposed by the staff appraiser at the informal hearing; therefore, the offer made at the informal hearing deserves careful consideration.

The majority of protests are resolved during the informal and formal hearings. However, in a small portion of protests the property owner believes the assessed value can be cut further by filing a judicial appeal. Although few owners pursue the final opportunity to reduce their taxes, owners have the option to file a lawsuit to contest the assessed value. It is probably financially feasible to file suit if the judicial appeal will reduce the assessed value by at least $200,000 to $300,000. This rule of thumb is for Texas; it may be higher or lower in other areas. In Harris County (Texas), for example, about 500 to 800 property owners annually determine there is still enough discrepancy after completing the informal and formal hearings to further pursue an adjustment in the assessed value by filing suit. Litigation in Texas must be filed within 45 days of receiving written notification of the value set at the formal hearing. This process can result in additional reductions in the assessed value; however, it typically takes 12 to 24 months and requires services from both an attorney and an appraiser. Although relatively few owners under-stand how to pursue judicial appeals, they can be a very effective tool in lowering property taxes.

With property taxes making up such a large percentage of operating expense, a commercial property owner I know was recently pleased when his consultant informed him that the company saved over $123,000 in property taxes. Some owners will realize less savings than those, but every little bit helps your bottom line.

To view this article and more written by this author, please visit {A HREF = http://www.poconnor.com}protestingpropertytaxes

About the Author

Patrick O’Connor, MAI is president of O’Connor & Associates. The firm, in business since 1974, specializes in nationwide real estate appraisals, research, and state and federal tax reduction services. O’Connor is frequently acknowledged by national publications as a respected source of information on real estate trends.

Real Estate Appraisal – Operating Systems Home Inspection from A to Z – DVD – Real Estate Home Inspector, Homeowner, Home Buyer and Seller Survival Kit Series

Operating Systems Home Inspection from A to Z – DVD – Real Estate Home Inspector, Homeowner, Home Buyer and Seller Survival Kit Series Don’t let your dream house be a nightmare in disguise! Everything you need to know about Real Estate – from Asbestos to Zoning. This 5-star rated DVD has over an hour of video and as an added bonus you also get the 80 page HIB DVD Companion Guide e-Book. This DVD shows the precise steps to follow to inspect all of the OPERATING SYSTEMS of a home.

The OPERATING SYSTEMS DVD topics include: heating systems (gas, oil, steam, hot water, and hot air heating), air-conditioning, water heaters, plumbing, well water system, septic system, electrical system, gas service, and auxiliary systems. Health Concerns topics including: asbestos insulation, radon gas, and water testing.

The INTERIOR and EXTERIOR inspection topics are covered in our other DVD that can be purchased separately. The INTERIOR and EXTERIOR DVD topics include: roof, chimneys, siding, eaves, gutters, drainage and grading, windows, walkways, entrances and porches, driveways, walls and fences, patios and terraces, decks, swimming pools, exterior structures, wood destroying insects, garage, kitchen, bathrooms, floors and stairs, walls and ceilings, windows and doors, fireplaces, attics, ventilation, insulation, basement/lower level, water penetration.

This is definitely the best home inspection DVD series on the market! Created by Guy Cozzi who is a licensed appraiser, home inspector, consultant, and real estate investor. This top selling author has been quoted as a real estate expert by the New York Times and many other publications. He has been a guest speaker on real estate investment TV shows for years. Guy Cozzi has taught thousands of people how to inspect, appraise and invest in real estate and provides advice to many banks and mortgage lenders.
Customer Review: Excellent DVD! We use this to train our home inspectors.
I own a very successful home inspection business in California. We use all of this authors products to train my staff since they are the by far the best products for real estate training on the market. We originally found out about these products through excellent book reviews in the local real estate publications. From that we learned the following details and decided to purchase the whole “Real Estate From A to Z” series by this author:

Nemmar Real Estate Training is ranked as the most exclusive real estate appraiser training, home inspector training, and real estate investor consulting service since 1988. Our real estate books, DVDs, CDs and Videos are rated number one in their real estate categories nationwide! Our products have taught thousands of home buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals worldwide. You too can learn everything you need to know about Real Estate – from Asbestos to Zoning. With this knowledge you will save thousands of dollars when you buy, sell, or renovate your home. You will also learn how to eliminate safety hazards and properly maintain a home. Statistics show an average savings of at least $4,700.00 per home for customers who have our books and DVD videos. Our real estate investment, home inspection, appraisal, and home improvement books have been called the “Bible” of the real estate industry. Written by Guy Cozzi, who has decades of experience as a licensed appraiser, home inspector, consultant, and real estate investor. This top selling author has been quoted as a real estate expert by the New York Times and many other publications. He has been a guest speaker on real estate investment TV shows and has taught thousands of people how to conduct home inspections, real estate appraisals, and how to invest in real estate. He also provides real estate advice to many banks and mortgage lenders.