Overview of FHA Property Standards: Since FHA has been so dominant in the market, it’s important to understand the nuts and bolts of what appraisers look for during an FHA appraisal inspection. What does it take for a property to meet FHA minimum requirements? This class will help when listing and marketing a property as well as communicating with loan officers too. See my FHA appraisal articles for reference.

How to Challenge a “Low” Appraisal: Have you had a bad appraisal on one of your deals? What can you do when an appraisal comes in lower than it should? This class goes through a specific format to help you prepare a solid reconsideration of value. We’ll discuss fundamentals about reviewing an appraisal report (what to look for) and specific ways to challenge a low appraisal. Bring your laptop if you have one since we’ll be looking at a Word document together (you’re fine without one too).

Effective Blogging for Real Estate: Real estate blogging has been a big part of my business and it’s something I enjoy doing too. Blogging is an opportunity to share knowledge, build relationships and connect with existing and potential customers. If done right, a blog can help build credibility and expertise for your real estate business as well as serve as a place where potential clients can feel you out before deciding to do give you a call. This class is full of tips, how-tos and gives a framework for creating original content too. Check out “tips for real estate blogging” to get a sense of my blog philosophy.

How to Make Solid Real Estate Videos: Video is a very powerful tool for sharing information and connecting with clients. A good video can help build trust and convey professionalism for your brand, but a bad video can accomplish the opposite. This class will be very practical as we discuss how to create videos that help you stand out (in a good way). We’ll actually edit a video in class so agents can have hands-on experience knowing what to do. I create videos regularly for clients, non-profit ventures, my Sacramento appraisal business and to promote YPC events through the Sacramento Association of Realtors. I also started a real estate video site called “Sacramento Real Estate Tube”.

Introduction to Appraising: This class is great for new agents, lawyers or loan officers to help get them up to speed on the appraisal process. We will look at a common appraisal form to get a good grasp of what an appraiser looks for and how an appraiser does his job. We’ll also discuss practical tips for interacting with appraisers (things to say and not say). While a class of 10 or more is usually preferred, lower numbers are more understandable for an introduction like this.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to book a class. Call, email, or text message and I’ll get back to you promptly.

If you have any questions or Sacramento area real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs, contact me by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

Overview of FHA Property Standards: Since FHA has been so dominant in the market, it’s important to understand the nuts and bolts of what appraisers look for during an FHA appraisal inspection. What does it take for a property to meet FHA minimum requirements? This class will help when listing and marketing a property as well as communicating with loan officers too. See my FHA appraisal articles for reference.

How to Challenge a “Low” Appraisal: Have you had a bad appraisal on one of your deals? What can you do when an appraisal comes in lower than it should? This class goes through a specific format to help you prepare a solid reconsideration of value. We’ll discuss fundamentals about reviewing an appraisal report (what to look for) and specific ways to challenge a low appraisal. Bring your laptop if you have one since we’ll be looking at a Word document together (you’re fine without one too).

Effective Blogging for Real Estate: Real estate blogging has been a big part of my business and it’s something I enjoy doing too. Blogging is an opportunity to share knowledge, build relationships and connect with existing and potential customers. If done right, a blog can help build credibility and expertise for your real estate business as well as serve as a place where potential clients can feel you out before deciding to do give you a call. This class is full of tips, how-tos and gives a framework for creating original content too. Check out my real estate appraisal blog or “tips for real estate blogging” to get a sense of my blog philosophy.

How to Make Solid Real Estate Videos: Video is a very powerful tool for sharing information and connecting with clients. A good video can help build trust and convey professionalism for your brand, but a bad video can accomplish the opposite. This class will be very practical as we discuss how to create videos that help you stand out (in a good way). We’ll actually edit a video in class so agents can have hands-on experience knowing what to do. I create videos regularly for clients, non-profit ventures, my Sacramento appraisal business and to promote YPC events through the Sacramento Association of Realtors. I also started a real estate video site called “Sacramento Real Estate Tube”.

Introduction to Appraising: This class is great for new agents, lawyers or loan officers to help get them up to speed on the appraisal process. We will look at a common appraisal form to get a good grasp of what an appraiser looks for and how an appraiser does his job. We’ll also discuss practical tips for interacting with appraisers (things to say and not say). While a class of 10 or more is usually preferred, lower numbers are more understandable for an introduction like this.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to book a class. Call, email, or text message and I’ll get back to you promptly.

Ryan Lundquist
Sacramento Real Estate Appraiser
TEL: 916-595-3735
FAX: 916-361-1964
EMAIL: ryan@LundquistCompany.com

WEBSITES:
www.LundquistCompany.com
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com
www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com

SOCIAL WEBSITES:
www.youtube.com/lundquistco
www.twitter.com/SacAppraiser
www.facebook.com/SacramentoAppraiser

This is great news for me to start the day and I am so pleased how the community came together to rally around a cause as basic as collecting new socks for homeless students. You can check out the Project 680 website or Facebook page for details and read some really great stories about community members making this happen.

We cannot easily solve some of the bigger problems we face in society, but when we put our hand to the plow we can often do small things to make a dent in real local issues. This is exactly what happened last night and this is often how change begins.

Have a wonderful day of life and business.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

I’d like to personally thank Orange County Cellular, Coldwell Banker Steve Ostrom & Team, CTP Business & Personal Development Coaching,  Jenny Lundquist – Author, Market Small, Body Investment Studio, The Appraisal IQ, Janice McNally Appraiser & Vice-Mayor David Sander for responding to a specific vision from my company to team up to knock out a chunk of Project 680′s overall goal. It was so good to be a unified front for this vision and we did it together! Here is some footage from the finale BBQ last night. Enjoy.

“We can do no great things, only small things with great love” Mother Teresa

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

Project 680 is doing an underwear drive for homeless students, so I figured a group of us could team up to help this important effort by pitching in. If 17 local businesses or familes each donate 25 pairs of underwear and my company donates 100, we’ll hit 500 pairs with ease. This team-approach will help us maximize results and put a big dent in Project 680′s goal to collect nearly 3000 pairs of new underwear by May 11, 2011.

If you do join the team, you’ll get a link below, links on the Project 680 website and SacTube, recognition on the P680 Facebook page, kudos on Twitter (and some other stuff too). Of course, the best thing you’ll get is the knowledge you did something good.

The All-Star Project 680 Donor Team
1.   Orange County Cellular
2.   JanMac Appraisals (Janice McNally)
3.   RosevilleandRocklin.com: Coldwell Banker Steve Ostrom & Team
4.   CTP Business & Personal Development Coaching
5.   Jenny Lundquist – Author
6.   Market Small
7.   Body Investment Studio       
8.   Soroptimist Organization in Rancho Cordova
9.   Mitchell Middle School in Rancho Cordova PTSA   
10.  Vice-Mayor David Sander City of Rancho Cordova     
11.  TBA      
12.  TBA      
13.  TBA      
14.  TBA      
15.  TBA      
16. TBA
17.   Lundquist Appraisal Company

This is a great way to maximize results and do a little good together. Business isn’t just about making money, but about making a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Let me know if you’re interested in getting involved.

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

Right now I have 158 videos on my YouTube page and I make videos regularly for clients, non-profit ventures, my Sacramento appraisal business and to promote events through the Sacramento Association of Realtors. I also started a real estate video site.

Ingredients for a stellar real estate video:

1. Keep the camera steady. If it looks like there is an earthquake, you need to find someone else to hold the camera (or invest in a tripod).

2. You don’t need to buy a professional camera. You can use a basic handheld camera that takes both photos and videos. Most cameras are good enough to post on YouTube. The Flip is outstanding for videos.

3. When you film, make sure you record at the middle or higher size on your camera - not the smallest size. Look at your settings. The smallest size is usually 320 x 240 pixels and the middle or larger size is 640 x 480. Stick with the middle size because it’ll look better online. Most video players are larger than 320 pixels wide, so if your video is small in its original format, it can look odd or distorted when the online video player stretches your video. 

4. Shoot in good light and remember that vibrant colors help things look interesting. Avoid dim and dark places because it just looks depressing.

5. Don’t copy others. Be yourself and be personable. It’s easy to sniff out when someone goes into “selling mode” too. You want people to feel comfortable with you and not get the sense you’re intentionally marketing to them. Avoid the used car salesman vibe. 

6. Use a title or opening slide (with a photo or logo) and a closing slide with contact information. A polished slide in the beginning and end can help set your video apart from others and help your video look more professional. If you don’t know how to make a slide like this, I can help you (if you are a local agent – just call me). Examples below.

7. Think about pacing. Your slide at the beginning should be about 3 seconds or so and the slide at the end with your contact information can probably be 5-7 seconds at most. If your opening slide is 10-15 seconds long, you’ll probably lose your audience. If you use a title on your opening slide, just make sure your slide is long enough so people can read the title, but not too long. Get straight to the point by having the slide fade in and then fade out before the video comes in. Make your video fade in and fade out too (that’s accomplished very easily with #11 below).

8. Keep your video to a few minutes or less if you can. People have a short attention span. They’ll certainly watch your video if it’s really good, but if your videos are consistently seven minutes long, you’d be wise to consider shortening them to 1-3 minutes if possible. You don’t have to try to make each video the definitive resource on whatever you’re talking about either. Just get on base and after a while you’ll begin to score runs.

9. Your content ought to be focused on being resourceful to others and providing helpful and good information. Having good content is the key to a successful video and more important than any point mentioned above. Think about what questions people are asking and also what sort of things you know that will be helpful to others. This is the type of stuff you can talk about. Add value. Be a resource. And don’t be afraid to fail forward. Some videos won’t be as good as others. Certain ones will be too long or something won’t be quite right about them. That’s okay. You’ll improve over time. For example, some of my early videos make me cringe. But that’s how it goes. We never get better unless we try.

10. Don’t oversell. You definitely want to tell people how they can contact you (briefly), but be cautious to not just talk about yourself the whole time. That’s old school and it makes you look self-focused. We build trust with others through video by being personable and providing good content. If someone senses they can trust you, they’ll contact you. Trust builds business – bottom line.

11. Last but not least, you’ll need video editing software. Here are a few options:

Microsoft Movie Maker: If you have a PC, you very likely already have Microsoft Movie Maker installed already. This is a free program and really the very bottom of the barrel when it comes to movie making. Your end-product can still be decent with Movie Maker, but only if you have a good looking intro image and contact image (seriously). The fonts you can use for titles and contact information with Movie Maker can really make a video look cheesy in my opinion, but if you use your own images like I mentioned in #6, it can help boost the overall quality to a decent level until you buy editing software. 

Sony Vegas Movie Studio: The non-professional “Sony Vegas Movie Studio 10″ will cost you about $100. This is a very powerful tool and you can even do some neat stuff with a green screen too. In my opinion, no video software is really all that user-friendly. There is a learning curve for using anything. I think this is definitely true when it comes to Sony Vegas. What has truthfully saved me countless hours is to watch tutorials on YouTube when I have questions. When I don’t know how to do something, I simply go to YouTube and there is bound to be a tutorial video for how to use Vegas and do the particular thing I’m trying to do.

iMovie: If you have a Mac, iMovie is a great place to start because you already have it on your computer. Everyone talks about how easy it is to use, but I don’t really think that’s the case. There is still a learing curve. Something becomes easy once you know how to do it. Overall though, this program offers a lot of bang and I’ve been impressed with the quality of the effects as well as the titles.

YouTube Video Editing: You can try out a free service by YouTube to make very basic edits. I honestly haven’t used this because my tools are working well for me, but I wanted to mention it as an option.

Sampling of some of my videos: By the way, here are a few of my videos in case you wanted to check them out: Which house is overbuilt for the neighborhood?, Tour of a dark boarded-up REO, A major hoarder house in Sacramento, Major Rehab of a $5,000 fixer in Sacramento, 2011 NorCal Real Estate Expo and Be careful of those property tax mailers.

If you have any questions, let me know. I hope this was helpful. If you have any other tips too, speak on.

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our company website or via Facebook.

If you have any real estate appraisal, valuation consulting, or property tax appeal needs, contact me at 916.595.3735, www.LundquistCompany.com or via Facebook.

This was really an easy project that didn’t take much skill or time. I purchased a $25 MDF board (Medium-density fibreboard), $10 of Disney paint (one quart – flat paint) from Home Depot, some drywall screws, and liquid nails (glue). Thank you to Sonja for the tip on MDF board. I actually purchased drywall at first, but once I started to tinker with it, I really felt like the MDF board was going to be a more durable product (just don’t get it wet). The Disney paint seems like it’ll be fine, but we’ll see if it holds up over time. A chroma key paint is probably the best way to go, but it is $60+ per gallon.

Have a look at the video below to see how this project came together and if the screen works or not. What do you think?

What do you have in your office that might surprise the average person?

It’s been amazing to see intentional compassion spread throughout the community. Watch a video thank you below or HERE for details. For more information on Project 680, contact me or see www.project680.org or the P680 Facebook page.

From the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce website:

Join the Holiday Inn Rancho Cordova and the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce in raising money for local charities. Not only will we be raising money for our community, but there will be over 50 business exibitors to network with. Food and entertainment will be provided by Holiday Inn Rancho Cordova. All the proceeds will be going to the local charities. We are excited to be presenting this event on December 3, 2010 from Noon to 5:00 pm

December 3, 2010, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Holiday Inn Rancho Cordova
11269 Point East Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742

It’s been amazing to watch the community rally together for the sake of homeless students in the FCUSD. Local residents, businesses, churches and organizations really stepped up their game to to make this happen. Thank you everyone for your team-oriented mindset and support, whether big or small. 

Here is a brief video I shot to give you a glimpse into last night’s festivities.