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An appraisal story

The other day I appraised a waterfront unit in a complex full of near-identicals—should’ve been easy. It wasn’t. A leak from the unit above caused major damage. Problem: no other units had it. No comps. So I went three miles out to a hurricane-damaged complex where every unit was a fixer. Still no clean resales to lean on. Time to get creative. I used five-year median sales (pre-storm) to establish a location adjustment, applied it back to the subject complex, then paired my damaged unit against two typical, undamaged ones. That isolated the damage adjustment. Problem solved. People think appraising is just grabbing three comps within a mile from the last six months. Sure—if everything’s the same. But when it’s not? You go find the...
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Residential Appraisals and Testimony for Attorneys

I sell and appraise residential real estate (and testify in court) for everybody except conventional lenders and bureaucracies. ​ Good referrals for me are attorneys specializing in civil, probate, bankruptcy, trusts and estates, family law, divorce, collaborative, real estate, or elder law; “for sale by owner”’s; accountants; Realtors estimating a listing or selling price; and Buyers or Sellers (especially an off-MLS sale, like one involving a relative, friend, or neighbor). ​ I have been accepted as an expert witness in Hillsborough County and my appraisal has been accepted in Pinellas and Pasco. I don’t appraise for conventional lenders. I can appraise the house as of a certain date in the past or present. I can appraise it subject to repairs (no extra charge as long as I know before I go). I can include pricing advice (free). I can show the value as of two different dates (50% more). Add 25% to show more than one subject condition. Add 25% to show more than type of value (normal, s...
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Link to: Sample Appraisal Report Without Maps And Pictures To Protect Anonymity

Link to: Sample Appraisal Report Without Maps And Pictures To Protect Anonymity
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Home Selling Tips

A Seller needs to do three things right to get a home sold Hire a Realtor with a high close rate (the percentage of their listings that actually sell); Price it right (“Price it Right and You’re Done!”) so your competition doesn’t kill you; Make it easy for other Realtors to show (we all sell the same inventory). If these three things are correct, it’ll sell. If not, no amount of marketing will sell it. How houses sell Realtors put their listings into the inventory, and offer a commission to any Realtor who can sell it. So any Realtor can sell any house, no matter who listed it. Most sales happen when a Realtor pulls a listing that fits the buyer from the MLS. The buyer originally contacted the Realtor on a different listing which just didn’t turn out to be the right one for them. Ads and open houses attract general prospects who may buy something some day. They rarely sell the home advertised. If it’s priced right it’ll sell without these. If it’s not...
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Kerry Silva’s Resume

Licenses Florida State Certified Residential Appraiser #RD0002145 Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker Professional Affiliations Greater Tampa Association of Realtors Florida Association of Realtors National Association of Realtors Court Dates 11-20-25: CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA FAMILY DIVISON, Case No.: 23-DR-014827, the Honorable Michael J. Hooi, Attorney Laurence Hodes, Counsel for the Petitioner/Husband 5–11–23: Hillsborough County Family Law Division, Honorable Nancy Jacobs, Lisa Wysong, Esq., Counsel for the wife/ex-wife 8–5-21: CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA FAMILY DIVISON, Case No.: 19-DR-017742, the Honorable Robin Fuson, Attorney Richard J. Mockler, Counsel for Former Wife 6–18–21: CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT  IN AND FOR PASCO COUNTY, STATE OF FLORIDA  FAMILY LAW DIVISION, Case No.: 2019-DR-001328-WS, Judge Danie...
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Appraisal and Court Options

  PRICE, WRIGHT, AND DUNN INC. Residential Realtors and Expert Witness Appraiser Kerry Silva, Expert Witness Appraiser pricing and selling homes since 1984 “Price It Right and You’re Done!” 813–962–8870 pwdkerry@gmail.com 9am — 6:15pm Member, Partners In Network Cert Res RD2145 Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Charlotte, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota counties, Florida I have been accepted as an expert witness in Hillsborough County and my appraisal has been accepted in Pinellas. No court has ever turned me down. I am experienced in: difficult appraisals non-standard appraisals trial prep court testimony I do residential appraisals (and testify in court) for everybody except conventional lenders and bureaucracies. Residential properties, no commercial Sales Comparison Approach only. If you require the appraisal report on a particular form I will decline the assignment. Contact me with your name, owner’s name, and the address of the property. I’ll get back to you with scheduling, fee, paymen...
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How to spot a good appraisal

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  One of the best ways to tell if your appraisal is good is to look for bracketing. You don’t want all the adjustments on a given line to be in the same positive or negative direction. That’s not appraising. That’s guessing. For instance in this example look at the adjustments for heated square footage. We have both negatives and positives. Another good example is fireplace. In the summer of 2014, in that neighborhood, Buyers and Sellers agreed that a fireplace was worth about a thousand dollars (not an electric one). I usually include the county’s just value and land value, bracketing them also. Press enter or click to view image in full size The exception to the rule is time adjustments. They have nothing to do with bracketing. They are the difference in the median value of homes in an area at two specific times.
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Do you want to buy a house?

  The fastest, easiest, and best way to find the best deal on the best home is competitive shopping. You make the available homes compete for your business. It’s a lot faster and easier if you use a good Realtor. And the earlier to start with that Realtor the easier it’ll be. The first step is to get your proof of funds ready If you are paying cash, be prepared to prove that you have it. If you are mortgaging, get a pre-approval letter from a lender. The reason you do this now is so you can prove to the seller that he should take you seriously when you submit your offer. Call me and I’ll send a good Lender your way. Now determine a narrow price range of interest The reason you keep the range narrow is to keep things competitive. If you waste time with Sellers who have over-priced, the good properties will be taken by another buyer. The over-priced Seller MAY come down some day, but why wait, when there’s a good one out there right now? Grab it before someone else does. And they wil...
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My Story

I started selling residential real estate in 1984. I had a great broker, John Barrett. He got me out there bringing in prospects right away. He’d always keep me two or three steps ahead of them.  Since then I became an appraiser in addition to being a real estate broker and moved to a different part of the country. I basically did things the way everybody else did for years. Then one day in the 1990s I got tired of not pointing out that in residential real estate, marketing doesn’t matter in getting your house sold. That’s what Multiple Listing Service (every Realtor’s inventory) is for. Price it right, make it easy to show, offer a commission, and it will sell because most inventory is either underpriced or overpriced. So I started testing different techniques that Realtors use, and experimenting with new ones I either heard of or thought up myself. I found that about half the knowledge that “everybody knows” is wrong. I found that the real estate laws of nature work a certain way...
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Private Home Appraisals and Expert Witnessing for Attorneys

  I sell and appraise residential real estate (and testify in court) for everybody except conventional lenders and bureaucracies. ​ Good referrals for me are attorneys specializing in civil, probate , bankruptcy, trusts and estates , family law , divorce , collaborative , real estate, or elder law ; “ for sale by owner ”’s; accountants ; Realtors estimating a listing or selling price; and Buyers or Sellers (especially an off-MLS sale , like one involving a relative, friend, or neighbor). ​ I have been accepted as an expert witness in Hillsborough County and my appraisal has been accepted in Pinellas and Pasco . I don’t appraise for conventional lenders. I can appraise the house as of a certain date in the past or present. I can appraise it subject to repairs (no extra charge as long as I know before I go). I can include pricing advice (free). I can show the value as of two different dates (50% more). Add 25% to show more than one subject condition. Add 25% to show more than typ...
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Where we’ve sold

  Below are the places we’ve sold, but even if we haven’t sold in your neighborhood, well, so what? Pricing/Selling real estate is a technical skill having to do with what you know, not where you last applied it (imagine asking your car service guy if he’s ever worked on a car from your neighborhood before). Even in a unique neighborhood the natural laws of real estate sales, financing, and appraisal don’t change. Assuming I have access to the real MLS data, I appraise a home the same way whether I’ve been on the street a thousand times or just this once. Apollo Beach Arbor Greene Ashton Oaks Avila Ayersworth Glen Bahia del Mar Bath Club Estates Bay Crest Beach Park Bell Lake Bloomingdale Boca Ciega Park Boyette Farms Brandon Brandon Brook Brandon Oak Grove Estates Brentwood Hills Buckhorn Oaks Buckhorn Preserve Capenter’s Run Carrollwood Carrollwood Village Charlotte County Cheval Clair Mel Clearwater Colonial Heights Copper Ridge Concord Station Cooper’s Pond Country Place Creeks...
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