Five questions with Courtley Jackson

Courtley Jackson has seen a lot of houses since he started his appraisal business, Courtley Jackson Co., in 1976.

Both parents were real estate salesmen. His uncle appraised the houses taken for the construction of the Canal Route.

“It was kind of dinner conversation growing up,” he said.

He is married to Kristen and they have two children.

Q 1 Are home prices still going down?

A “We’re bouncing along the bottom.”

Q 2 How can you tell?

A “We’re not seeing the inventory shrinking. The number of homes for sale is not as great as what it was the last couple of years. The homes that are selling are selling quicker. So the times have shortened. It’s neighborhood specific, some sell quicker than others, and some have higher competition from foreclosure than others.”

Q 3 Foreclosures are way down. Why?

A “What I have been told is that paperwork is the biggest reason that has slowed down. There are a number of people still behind on their payments and they are maybe a paycheck away from defaulting, but they are still a delinquency, but it’s mostly the paperwork.”

Q 4 What’s changed for appraisers coming out of the housing crisis?

A “Loan officers can no longer order the appraisal. That took away any pressure on the appraiser to hit numbers and that results would not impact future business. Most lenders have a separate valuation department who receives and handles the appraisal. … We no longer have a relationship business.”

Q 5 Is that a good move?

A “I think it’s a good move for not having pressure on the appraiser to hit numbers, so yeah, for the public it’s a good move. … The problem is that the third-party managers take a piece of our fee and the other problem is these management companies are owned by the big lenders.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Five questions with Courtley Jackson."