The Louisiana Road Home Program has been ordering appraisals to determine the pre-Katrina value of the affected properties. As the owner of a residential appraisal company, along with my wife Wendy, we have been getting several of these orders.

Specifically, they order a Form 2055 which is a Fannie Mae Desktop Underwriter Quantitative Analysis Appraisal Report. In the appraisal business we refer to it as a 'short form' as it's not quite as in depth as a full length single family appraisal. You basically arrive at the final determination of value the same way you would with a full form; it's just not as detailed.

For example there are three approaches to value:

The Cost Approach

The Income Approach

The Sales Comparison Approach

The 2055 form leaves out the cost approach and the income approach is only used for income producing or rental properties.

The reason I?m brining this is up is because I?ve heard people calling the talk radio shows concerned that their properties would be undervalued using this short form appraisal. If their properties were undervalued, it was more likely because someone was unfamiliar with their particular neighborhood.

It's not the form's fault!

When we first started, I would actually measure the properties but it just wasn't feasible with all the properties we had to do. On most of the applications there is a square footage estimate. I?m not sure if the number came from the applicant or if it was calculated from a Road Home Inspector.

***that's the guy who determines your damage

***I?m the guy who figures out what it was worth on 08/28/2005

If the square footage provided seems reasonable, I usually give folks the benefit of the doubt and I use it. Most of the square footage estimates I?ve seen were accurate, but some were obviously inflated. I pretty much know from experience about how much living area a house has by looking at it. Either way, we research the house, the street, and the neighborhood. If we can't find data on the subject property, we do know what types and sizes of homes conform to the neighborhood. If that doesn't work or for whatever reason I can't be sure, I?ll measure the house (sometimes you have to measure a slab or frame if the house was razed.

If I had the time and energy, and the Road Home Program was paying for a full appraisal I would measure every property but that is not the case and it's simply not feasible - it would take forever. Of course at this point most people think it's taking forever anyway!

***If you feel that the pre-Katrina value of your home is less than what it should be, check the square footage on the Road Home Appraisal to see if it matches with your previous paperwork if you have it.

The square footage used is living area only; therefore, garages, basements, patios, storage, etc are not included in this. Those areas are given value elsewhere on the form. . As far as quality and condition I usually give folks the benefit out the doubt on that as well.

As much as I listen to Walter Leger on the Garland Robinette show on WWL radio, I?m still not exactly clear on what LARHP, LRA, ICF do and how they coordinate. From the appraisal perspective they have just changed companies.

We were brought it by eAppraiseit LLC in Poway California which is owned by First American Financial Corp. They were brought in by ICF which is in Fairfax, Virginia. EAppraiseit hired a company called JVI which is somewhere in Florida. JVI hired a company called appraisalport.com to accept and review the appraisals. I think I have that straight.

I guess JVI was fired or lost their contact because now we submit our reports to a company in Grammercy called Hammerman and Gainer, Inc (HGI or HNG). At least they are local and can understand the neighborhood differences.

I spent about a month appraising properties in Lafitte. Trying to explain Lafitte to some chick in Boston with Appraisalport.com proved difficult and presented unnecessary headaches that I don't have anymore with HGI.

I spent one week on Treme and was asked to go back to Lafitte. Then I did Marrero's Lincolnshire and Westminster.

For now, I?m working on Laplace and Kenner.

To protect yourself, you may want to consider ordering your own short form appraisal. Some of our call-in clients are people who question the value of their Road Home appraisal. Not any we did mind you! Most appraisers I know charge $150 -$200 for a 2055 short form appraisal. Doing this will give you the peace of mind that your home was appraised fairly by the Road Home Program and you'll know if your square footage was in the ballpark.

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