Join the Adventure — it Starts July 8!

On July 8th, AppraisalWorld and Bradford Technologies CEO Jeff Bradford and long time friend Arthur Johnson will embark on an epic “Round the World” adventure. They will be flying from San Francisco to London, where they'll pick up a Land Rover Disco. From there, they will drive 9000 miles to Ulaanbator, Mongolia. This route will take them through France, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakzstan, and Russia. The last country to be visited will be China, and finally back to America.

The Mongolia Charity Rally has more than 40 participating teams raising money for charity, and the team vehicles are distributed to charities throughout Mongolia.

"The trip is for charity. The object is to get utility vehicles to Mongolia. They need them badly. So when we get there, we will be donating the Land Rover to the Mongolian government. They in turn will auction it off to the locals," said Jeff Bradford.

Would you like to have your name printed on the side of the Land Rover? You can! We are also raising money for the “Save the Children” foundation and for $10, which will go directly to Save the Children, we will write your name on the side of the “Disco” in indelible ink. Imagine a Mongolian driving this Range Rover, with your name written on the side! You won’t get this chance very often, so take advantage of this opportunity and contribute to a worthy cause. It's tax deductible. Click on this link to donate. Then, email Jeff at jeff@bradfordsoftware.com so we can make sure your name gets written on the Rover. You must email by July 8, 2009 to get your name on the Land Rover!

For those of you who know Jeff Bradford, this type of adventure is something he and his daughter do every year. Last year, they climbed Kilimanjaro, swam with the sharks in South Africa, and visited Qatar and India on their world tour. The previous year, they dog sledded to the North Pole. “I encourage all Dads to pick a week or two and take your daughters on an adventure. Our trips started with a camping trip to Yosemite. On our trips, it's just the two of us. No one else gets invited. So it’s special.”

We'll keep you posted on Jeff's progress here in the AppraisalWorld Newsletter and on the website, and you can follow along (and donate to these worthy causes) on the team's blog: http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/en/teams/5694/blogs

18-month moratorium on HVCC proposed in Congress
Representative Travis Childers from Mississippi introduced a bill on Thursday, June 25, that proposed an 18-month moratorium on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. The bill, H.R. 3044, was co-sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller of California. The text of the bill can be found at this link: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3044:

Pending Home Sales Index rises for fourth consecutive month
The National Association of Realtors announced Wednesday, July 1, that the Pending Home Sales Index inched 0.1 percent higher in the month of May. The index, which now stands at 90.7, is 6.7 percent higher than it was in May of 2008, when the Index stood at 85.0.

This is the fourth consecutive month the Pending Home Sales Index has risen. The last time the Index rose for a fourth consecutive month was in October of 2004.

NAR President stresses need to hire local-area appraisers
In their latest press release outlining last month’s rise of the Pending Home Sales Index, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) also commented on how appraisers are affecting sales prices in regards to distressed property and the need for lenders to hire appraisers with local-area knowledge.

“We see that distressed homes often are selling for 20 percent less than normal homes in the same area, but some appraisals don’t distinguish between traditional homes and distressed property,” NAR President Charles McMillan said. “In many cases appraisers from outside the area are being used, but as everyone knows real estate is local and appraisals should be done by an expert with local expertise.”

McMillan also emphazied the need for homeowners to have open lines of communication with appraisers to discuss matters of maintenance on the subject property. “Sellers should feel free to tell an appraiser about improvements and renovations to their home, and how it compares with other homes in the neighborhood,” he said. “Also, if recent sales in the neighborhood were discounted, but not similar to your home in terms of quality or condition, that should be pointed out. It wouldn’t hurt to put all this in writing, especially if an appraiser is not familiar with your area.”

To read more about McMillan’s comments, and about the Pending Home Sales Index, read the below article: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/07/record_fourth

Appraisal Studio Report Converter: Updated
This utility converts Appraisal Studio reports to ClickFORMS format.
Released: June 29, 2009
File size: About 14MB
User Guide: http://bradfordsoftware.com/getinfo/AS_Converter_Instructions.pdf

The Appraisal Studio to ClickFORMS Converter has been updated with a number of highly requested forms. New forms include:

• 1004 Listing form
• 1004 Add Comp form
• 1073 Listing form
• 1073 Add Comp form
• 2055 Listing Form
• 2055 Add Comp
• 1004C Listing
• 1004C Add Comp
• 1025 Listing
• 1025 Add Comp
• 1025 Rental Form
• 2000 Add Comp Form
• 2090 Add Comp Form
• 2095 Add Comp Form
• Subject Interior Photo form
• Listing Photo Form
• 4 X 6 Photo pages

Comparables Database Converter
There is also a new Comparables converter available for download. It will convert comparables data in version 4 or 5 of the Appraisal Studio Comps database. Download the file onto your desktop. Double click on the icon and a window will pop up showing the location of your database and the number of records to convert. Hit Start Conversion. Please only run the converter one time, as running it multiple times will duplicate your comparable files.

To download these converters, visit http://www.bradfordsoftware.com/support/downloads.asp. Enter your email address. On the following page, the converter download is located just under the ClickFORMS download box.