HVCC and buying your house

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is a regulation that attempts to insure the value of a home (on which a mortgage is being issued) is arrived at both independently and objectively. A major challenge with this new legislation is the elimination of the loan originator's ability to discuss the property with the appraiser. In order to comply with HVCC, lenders must use the services of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) who then independently select the appraiser from a list of licensed and approved vendors. Only the AMC, homeowner or Realtors may communicate with the appraiser.


With that in mind, your real estate agent should:

• Always insist on meeting the appraiser at the home for the inspection
• Provide the appraiser with any information that you believe would be beneficial in arriving at an accurate value. Examples include any unique features of the subject property, important data regarding comps such as sales that were arm’s length transactions, short sales, bank owned, or comps with poor interior condition, etc.
• Confirm the terms of the contract with the appraiser. Make sure they have the correct sales price, property type (such as SFR or PUD) and are aware of seller credits towards closing costs, etc.


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$8,000 Tax Credit -- Frequently Asked Questions

The National Association of Realtors has put together a very clear FAQ page on the $8,000 first-time buyers Tax Credit.  If you're looking into buying your first home, now's the time to act!  Read this article then use the powerful home search tool on my website to start looking!
As I find articles that are more clearly or expertly written than I can do myself, I'll be making them available on this page in the future...keep checking the website to keep up to date on what's happening in Real Estate.