Books We Recommend:

One of the fastest ways to build any business is through making the appropriate contacts. While ICOR provides a number of resources to aid the leaders of our local communities and support the industry in state and government affairs, we also recommend the following as valuable partners.

AACA – American Association of Certified Appraisers: Organized to advance the standards of professionalism and ethical appraisal procedures of its Certified Appraisers. It certifies and recognizes all qualified real estate appraisers and then assists, trains and educates them for the best interest of the appraisal profession and the public.

AI – Appraisal Institute: Supports and advances its members as the choice for real estate solutions and upholds professional credentials, standards of professional practice and ethics consistent with the public good.

ASA – American Society of Appraisers: Committed to fostering professional excellence in its membership through education, accreditation, publication and other services.

ASHI – American Society of Home Inspectors: Builds customer awareness of the importance of a quality home inspection and enhances the professionalism of home inspectors.

ALTA – American Land Title Association: Searches, reviews and insures land titles to protect home buyers and mortgage lenders who invest in real estate.

BOMA – Building Owners and Managers Association: A primary source of information on office building development, leasing, building operating costs, energy consumption patterns, local and national building codes, legislation, occupancy statistics and technological developments.

CCIM – Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute: Recognized experts in the disciplines of commercial and investment real estate.

CREW – Commercial Real Estate Women: Dedicated to advancing the success of women in commercial real estate and achieving parity in opportunity, influence and power within the industry.

HUD User – Fair Market Rents: Fair Market Rents (FMRs) determine the eligibility of rental housing units for the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments program. Section 8 Rental Certificate program participants cannot rent units whose rents exceed the FMRs. FMRs also serve as the payment standard used to calculate subsidies under the Rental Voucher program.

ICSC – International Council of Shopping Centers: Advances the development of the shopping center industry and establishes the individual shopping center as a major institution in the community.

IREM – Institute of Real Estate Management: The source for education, resources, information and membership for real estate management professionals for over 70 years.

MBAA – Mortgage Bankers Association of America: Invests in communities across the nation by ensuring the continued strength of the nation’s residential and commercial real estate markets; expanding homeownership and extending access to affordable housing to all Americans and supporting financial literacy efforts.

NAHB – National Association of Home Builders: Represents the building industry by serving its members and affiliated state and local builders associations.

NAHRO – National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials: The leading housing and community development advocate for the provision of adequate and affordable housing and strong, viable communities for all Americans—particularly those with low- and moderate-incomes.

NAIOP – National Association of Industrial and Office Parks: The international association of developers, owners and professionals of commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate. Our members promote responsible, sustainable development that creates jobs. NAIOP supports diversity within the industry, provides education and advocates for legislation that benefits the communities in which we work and live.

NAR – National Association of Realtors: Seeks to be the leading advocate of the right to own, use, and transfer real property; the acknowledged leader in developing standards for efficient, effective, and ethical real estate business practices; and valued by highly skilled real estate professionals and viewed by them as crucial to their success.

NAREA – National Association or Real Estate Appraisers: Makes available highly qualified Real Estate Appraisers to those requiring Professional Appraisal Reports.

NAREIT – National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts: The representative voice for U.S. REITs and publicly traded real estate companies worldwide.

NARPM – National Association or Residential Property Managers: Supports the professional and ethical practices of rental home management through networking, education and certification.

NMHC – National Multi Housing Council: The apartment industry’s leading advocate and strategic consultant.

RECON – Real Estate Center Online News: The nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research.

ULI – Urban Land Institute: Represents the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines, working in private enterprise and public service.

U.S. Census Bureau – Housing Vacancies & Home Ownership: Provides current information on the rental and homeowner vacancy rates, and characteristics of units available for occupancy. These data are used extensively by public and private sector organizations to evaluate the need for new housing programs and initiatives. In addition, the rental vacancy rate is a component of the index of leading economic indicators and is thereby used by the Federal Government and economic forecasters to gauge the current economic climate.

U.S. Census Bureau – Manufacturing, Mining & Construction: Statistical data regarding new residential construction & new residential sales

House Valuation Links:

• Cyberhomes
  Find comps, get charts, maps, and graphs. This one stands out most with its heat maps and buy/sell indicator charts. You can also refine the value that is determined by adding improvements, correcting square footage, and more.
• Domania.com
  They will send you the market value of your home as determined by local Realtors. Note: You need to provide contact info to get your report.
• Eppraisal
  Website that searches for other comparable properties in your area and determines a price value range for your home. It looks like the goal is to become a marketing engine for local Realtors, though. Although not as feature rich as some of the others, this site is still useful. To use this free service, just enter your address.
• Home Smart Reports
  Offers free house value engine including property information, nearby sales with map, and a neighborhood summary. For only a few dollars, you can get a much more advanced report with risk analysis, many more comps, and other statistical charts.
• Property Shark
  Property shark provides public data on a property, recent sales, sale history, and comparables. No need to provide your contact info, either.
• Real Estate ABC
  Find instant home comps for any property. This site provides maps, and property value ranges that you can adjust based on sevaral criteria. You can also pick and choose the properties to include as comps.
• Realtor.com
  Realtor.com is now allowing you to search for your home’s worth by showing what houses sold for in your area.
• Reply
  Like many of the others, this site offers maps (with great aerial photos), shows many comparable home sales, and has market trends (showing things like % of renters and vacancies in the area). In addition, you can use the site to review the properties and make unsolicited offers on any home.
• Zillow.com
  Find the Zestimate of any property’s worth using comparable data. Zillow mashes this data up with Google maps so you can see what other properties in the area are worth as well. Includes property info, charts of property worth over time, and value ranges. The site lets you refine a property’s value, like Cyberhomes, by adding improvements and changing other details about the property. You can also use the site to list a property for sale.

Pay Property Value Sites

RealQuest.com

This service provides tons of useful data on a given property. Basics include: Property Detail Report, Comparable Sales, Parcel Map/Assessor Map, Street Map, Neighborhood Information, Legal and Vesting, Automated Valuation (AVM), Transaction History, Custom Searches, and Flood Maps. Other reports include: statement of liens, foreclosure activity, fraud checks, transaction histories, and more.

SiteXData.com

Effective lead generation is one of the most powerful ways to boost your sales growth. Get instant access to precise property data with Farm Utility, from FIS Data Services. Most lead generation systems only offer broad property search options by city or ZIP code, making you sort through non-relevant results to locate specific information. Farm Utility, an industry-leading online property data search and lead location solution, helps you easily perform highly-targeted searches to find just the leads you want.