dagblog - Comments for ""If I like it, it's data; if I don't like it, it's 'anecdata.'""

The internet called: "can we

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 03:35:39 +0000

The internet called: "can we get a 2nd opinion?"

I saw that it's an awful

artappraiser — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 23:49:11 +0000

In reply to Except sometimes we haven't

I saw that it's an awful story, no matter the reason for the disparity in valuations.

But you know I really was an appraiser. I belonged to the American Society of Appraisers which is multi-disciplinary and the vast majority of members are real estate appraisers (I was Personal Property-Fine Arts.) Every five years we had to take the USPAP test to re-certify, which was instituted because of all the bullshit with real estate appraisals that caused the S & L crisis. Most of the version of the test the ASA gives is real estate appraisal oriented.

So I really do understand a bit about this (not to mention one brother has an MA in appraising commercial real estate, tho he too no longer practices appraising.)

Suffice it to say: IT'S DEFINITELY a piece of anecdata. Could be racism, BUT

Zero proof of systemic racism. Zero proof of even individual racism unless the white friend hired the same exact appraiser.

THE UGLY TRUTH no one wants to admit to (and reason for the S & L crisis that hasn't really been solved):

appraising one-of-a-kind anything is most definitely NOT a science. Like medicine, it's an art. And there's a ton of really shitty and/or stupid practitioners of it out there that have a legitimate shingle. 50% variation? I would call that NO BIG DEAL! Happens all the time. Ask any divorce court or probate court judge who has had more than two appraisals done of property of disputed value. Most of them have! And they have to rule on which one is more accurate.

Ask anyone who does appraisals for challenges to insurance companies! When you make a claim, you can be sure they've hired the appraiser known for putting the lowest values on property they can find.

Lesson is make sure your appraiser is an expert or get more than one appraisal.

One really would have to do extensive data study to know whether there is systemic racism involved.

One could prove racism by an individual appraiser by doing identical properties with same appraiser and one owner of color and one white. But they would have to be pretty identical--one with lots of renovation vs. one in original degraded state would not be identical enough. Here's just an example of the variables. Renovation, what kind? The kind preferred by local buyers or the kind they hate? I.E. If you rip out a beautiful art deco tile bathroom because it's got a lot of damage and replace it with a Chinese pre-fab bathroom, you may just have reduced the value a great deal, not increased it.

Except sometimes we haven't

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 18:18:30 +0000

In reply to "If I like it, it's data; if I don't like it, it's 'anecdata.'"

Except sometimes we haven't

ICYMI: The Austin family sunk $400,000 into renovating their home, but were stunned when they barely gained any value during the appraisal process. When they had a white woman pose as the homeowner, that all changed—by half a million dollars.

Full story: https://t.co/Loaip5L9JN pic.twitter.com/ykTiLiXrer
— Julian Glover (@JulianGABC7) February 13, 2021

Keepers of the Truth

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 06:53:03 +0000

In reply to ah, I recall Synchroncity as

Keepers of the Truth preparing for when they take over the Blog. The real Dag cognoscenti.

ah, I recall Synchroncity as

artappraiser — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 06:46:20 +0000

In reply to Speaking of data, Dagblog's

ah, I recall Synchroncity as one of my favorite posters, and mho, never got the attention deserved! (I have noticed that the "Hits of the day" has had some real oldies lately, like ancient. That is spammers or spiders linking to those pages or something? I recall a discussion about it, also eons ago.)

Speaking of data, Dagblog's

PeraclesPlease — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 06:18:58 +0000

In reply to "If I like it, it's data; if I don't like it, it's 'anecdata.'"

Speaking of data, Dagblog's hidden lurker readership has the Black History Month thread trending (see Hits of the Day), pushing it to a whopping *4 times* the hits of a mid-2016 Synchronicity piece on how Hillary stole the election from Bernie. Never let it be said our community doesn't like historical moments, nor addressing conspiracy. [amusing as always to stroll through that nearly 5-year-old thread, lots of aliases passing through, hints of Trump-to-come and politics as we once knew it - nostalgia tour done right. Even Hal and Ramona and Stilli how up]

http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/dear-hillary-voters-will-you-listen-now-...

really it's like watching

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 06:56:00 +0000

In reply to "If I like it, it's data; if I don't like it, it's 'anecdata.'"

really it's like watching the Special Olympics with a family who has a child in the games. You are going to be super nice and supportive and cheer for everyone correctly mainly because you want to be a nice person and not hurt anyone's feelings. And then your hosts decide to start being hyper critical of the quality of the niceness you are showing. Accusing you of being insincere and not really caring about the Special Olympics. The nicer you try to be, the more your hosts reject your fake attitude. And then you realize that the only thing that could ever give you status in their eyes is if you competed in the Special Olympics. The fact that we can't just come out and say, "you are right I don't care about the Special Olympics at all and the kids run slow" is like what topics involving race are like these days. We wouldn't want to come out and make a shocking claim if we weren't forced into it by the badgering of The Elect. We are being constantly provoked in order to make this the only topic of discussion.

1Reply

Francesca Gilles11 hr ago

This piece brings to mind a recent interaction I had with a few of my friends (well-meaning, white, dues-paying members of The Elect, to be sure). Innocently enough, while discussing emerging evidence that Vitamin D deficiency may be correlated with severe Covid outcomes, I mentioned that darker skinned people require significantly more sun exposure than lighter skinned people to synthesize the necessary levels of Vitamin D. Instantly, before I had even managed to finish the sentence and absent any mention of Black people specifically, my friends scoffed and said, "Fran, Black people are dying because of medical racism." End of conversation, as if it wasn't even worth mentioning a concrete scientific reality in the face of the all-encompassing trump card of medical racism.

Britain's seeing it's vaunted educational system hammered by Covid and Brexit. The US system isn't immune. Sure, for tech we'll stay strong, but if liberal arts and all other things take on this veneer, foreign students just might not bother, with the *huge* costs. Part was always to buy access, but now there's the question "access to what?" 2nd prize *2* degrees! I still question this criminalizing these pay for access schemes - everyone's trying to out their thumb on the scale - that *us* how you get ahead. Sure, imprison everyone who tries something not my way, tries to push their type of advantage.