Jamie Moore, president of Jamie Moore Appraisals Inc., in Warwick has worked in real estate for 25 years. This month she was elected 2012 president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors and will take over the post in November.
PBN: As an appraiser, what qualities do you bring to the Rhode Island Association of Realtors that a realtor might not bring?
MOORE: Actually, as a member of the Rhode Island and National Associations of Realtors, I am a Realtor. The Realtor organization has both appraisers and agents as members. Whereas our officers who are agents generally come to their respective posts in the association with familiarity with one area of the state – the local communities where their business is concentrated – my job as an appraiser takes me all over Rhode Island. I think that gives me a broad knowledge of the issues that affect people throughout the state. That’s important because an issue in one city or town can grow to a statewide problem if not dealt with early. For example, if a town proposes a new fee on real estate like a transfer tax, and it passes, other towns may adopt the same fee, which ultimately is a disincentive to home ownership. It’s important we start early in the game to encourage, not deter, home ownership because the fact is, study after study shows that it’s a driving factor in the economy and helps to build the communities we live in.
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PBN: We are a few years out from the depths of the recession, but home sales are still sluggish and prices continue to drop. What is it going to take to get people buying real estate again?
MOORE: There are a number of issues we have to contend with. First, lending requirements have gone from extremely lax to unreasonably difficult. We need to get the banks lending money to realistically qualified buyers. Second, appraisal guidelines have changed in a way that impedes, rather than helps, the housing correction. Also, access to jobs has to grow. People can’t invest with money they don’t have. And finally, consumer confidence has to be restored and that hasn’t fully happened yet. If people aren’t feeling good about the economy, they’re not going to want to do any long term investing until they feel more settled.
PBN: When there is a rebound, what will be the first thing we will see?
MOORE: An increase in sales would be the first thing to look for. Increased sales will lead to a restoration of balance between supply and demand. Then prices will stabilize. We saw an increase in sales starting in 2009, and then they dipped again following the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit last year. We’re starting to see them rise again now.
PBN: Are there any signs for optimism in Rhode Island you can point to?
MOORE: We’re going through some tough times so it’s easy to lose sight of all that Rhode Island has to offer. We need to remember that our state has a great, seaside location conveniently located between Boston and New York. We have great colleges and beautiful towns and cities which have a lot of history. The homes in those towns and cities have always been extremely affordable compared to nearby states like Connecticut and Massachusetts. And, it appears that everyone is finally on the same page about bringing Rhode Island’s issues to light and working to find solutions.
I think the inherent attributes that Rhode Island has form a great building block for the work that is now being done in state government. The RI Economic Development Corporation has some great initiatives underway which should help to build the economy, citizens are becoming more engaged in improving our state and our legislators seem to understand that they need to make some hard decisions now, not after it’s too late. I’m hopeful that we’re on the right path.
PBN: Tell me about the new appraisal rules that have recently gone into effect and what you think of them.
MOORE: Basically, new regulations were adopted which put a middle man between appraisers and bankers so that there would be less ability for coercion. Unfortunately, the middle man is often not local which makes the process more encumbered and costly for consumers. Ideally, the best process would be one that expedites the appraisal process, not one that creates longer timelines and more hurdles for sales and refinances. While the new guidelines are well intentioned, I do see some backlash from them. Often homes that should qualify for a particular loan don’t, because like the swing we saw in lending standards overall, appraisal rules have become so extreme that they sometimes run counter to what they were intended to do, which is to fix the problems in the housing market.
