I'm the editor at Relocation.com, a leading online source and advocate for people who are relocating, or thinking about relocating.
I don't see why an appraiser 'unfamiliar' with a neighborhood can't make a fair determination of value -- they should be looking at all the same objective metrics that someone who knows the area is looking at. The issue seems to be a conservatism in setting low valuations in order to compensate (perhaps overcompensate) for the lofty valuations doled out during the bubble. Tim Johnson http://www.relocation.com
Excellent article, hopefully this long-term approach to housing is taking hold. Two questions: did he take into account tax benefits of mortgage interest deductibility? and does he take into account rising inflation, and the effect that might have on locking into a long-term CD? Tim Johnson http://www.relocation.com
re: McMansions as housing for the poor. If the upkeep of the houses and their lousy proximity to transportation and jobs doomed them for the middle class, how in the world would they work for the poor? Intriguing idea but hard to see it happening.
