Links

NAIFA.COM - The home page of the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers. NAIFA has a fine discussion area for appraisers.

NH Specific Sites:

NH Shoreland Protection Act - A new Shoreland Protection Act went into effect in the State of New Hampshire recently. The requirements of the act apply to properties within 250' of the tidal waters, rivers, lakes and ponds. This will include some properties that are near the water, but are not necessarily waterfront. Appraisers working in NH should be aware of the general requirements of this land use law.

NH Septic System Info - The NH Department of Environmental Services has an online database with septic approval. The database is far from complete, but it does have basic information on many properties. For best search results, I suggest that you limit your search parameters to street name and city or town.

NH Community Profiles - The NH Department of Employment Security publishes a "Community Profile" in PDF format for every city and town in the state. These profiles contain some very useful information.

NH Property Tax Rates - The NH Department of Revenue Administration posts the property tax rates for each community in the state. The rates go back to 1999 for historical usage.
Many communities also have precinct taxes; those rates are also available from the state at the website.

NH Fish and Game - Has all kinds of great info on lake sizes, depth, restrictions, and fish type. Useful when doing waterfront appraisals.

NH Population Estimates is a site for population figures where population is broken down by county and cities & towns.

NH Unemployment Rates has unemployment rates by cities and towns

NH Labor Statistics has labor force and wage information for the state, counties, labor market areas and by city and town. The data is available as an Excel file, data is reported quarterly. They're a bit late at reporting; it goes up to the 4th quarter of 2008.

The NH OEP also has census income data

NH Climate Audit has an interesting calculator that compares heating costs with different fuels

The NH OEP also has average current fuel prices,

This site shows historic fuel prices

NH Employment Security gives employment by cities and towns,

NHES also has the consumer price index

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics is a good site for labor force and unemployment rates on a statewide basis.

Other useful sites:

Bankrate.com - tracks mortgage rates all over the US and has a lot of good timely information on the real estate market.

Vision Appraisal - Home to assessor databases for most of New England.

Avitar Associates - Access to published (online) databases of a number of NH towns. Requires an account.

House Price Index - The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) is an independent entity within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with oversight authority over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. OFHEO produces, in downloadable PDF format, a quarterly House Price Index (HPI) that tracks single family house prices by region, state and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

Soil Survey Maps - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has made soil survey maps available online.

FEMA Flood Maps - If you have a valid physical street address enter it in the form near the top right corner of the page. This pull up the appropriate panel. Click on the green dot to view. Click on "Make a FIRMette" to generate a graphic file that you can print and or insert in your report. If you do not have a valid street address you can click on the "Map Search" on the menu bar at the top of the page. You will then get a map of North America. Click on the map in the area you need to see and it will zoom in. Continue to click and zoom in until you can locate the correct panel. Next, click on the "Point" icon on the left (it's the target). Then, click on the green dot as above.

HUD info for Appraisers - Use the above link to access HUD's resources for appraisers. All of HUD's forms and publications can be found at the HUDClips website. With Mortgagee Letter 2006-26, HUD revised the appraiser application form which now includes the test as part of the application. This and all other Mortgagee Letters are available online. Every FHA Appraiser should be familiar with the Homeownership Center (HOC) Reference Guide. M & M Contractors for HUD REOs are also listed online.

Census Tract Numbers - At this location you will find the FFIEC Geocoding System which is a search engine that will provide the Census Tract number or Block Number Area number for the address that you enter. Once you have located the census tract number there are links to demographic data for that census tract. If you are in an area where the tract number cannot be found by address, you may want to try this site where you can zoom in on a map to find the tract number.

The Appraisal Foundation - Get to latest exposure drafts and other communications from the ASB and AQB.

The Appraisal Subcommittee  - This is the home of the National Registry of licensed and certified appraisers.

The NY Times has a good section relating to the economic events over the past two months.