Dr. Weber left the appraisal business in 2004 to start a doctoral program after finding that most clients only wanted a confirmation of the values they needed for their transactions. It was thought that this lack of objectivity was a result of securitization-passing the risk to third-party investors, likely leading to global financial problems. Unfortunately, one may well find that appraisal bias is not limited to the well-publicized problems with single-family valuations. The conflict of interest in appraisal is the same as that experienced by bond rating agencies during the last decade.
Dr. Weber managed an Appraisal Review Department at the FDIC during the last banking crisis. He and his fellow review appraisers researched the most likely reasons for unreliable appraisals. Dr. Weber has since completed a doctoral program that built upon this research. One of Dr. Weber’s doctoral supervisors was President of the International Real Estate Society and another is the head of the University’s School of the Built Environment. Dr. Weber’s thesis won the “Best Thesis” award at the University. It provided academic literature as well as empirical data revealing appraisal bias.
The link below leads an article by Dr. Weber published earlier this year in the highly regarded Journal of Property Investment & Finance. It summarizes solutions to five valuation problems that a bilateral working group (the U.S. and German Environmental Protection Agencies) found hinder successful brownfield redevelopment. This paper was presented at the 2006 meeting of the European Real Estate Society in Weimar, Germany. Brownfield developers found that they needed to solve these problems to find the value of land with significant contamination. Appraisal does not solve these problems.
http://emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=09B7AD96D782449EF09810212DF9B45D?contentType=Article&contentId=1662922 (copy & paste into your browser)
Background
Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:A: -30 years experience in real estate appraisal, 7 of which have been in appraisal review
Doctor of Technology: Thesis implemented GIS and empirical datasets to demonstrate major real estate valuation problems and their solutions, solving the 5 major problems that hinder brownfield redevelopment. (Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Vol. 26 No. 1, 2008 pp. 8-37) http://emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do;jsessionid=09B7AD96D782449EF09810212DF9B45D?contentType=Article&contentId=1662922
Master of Business Administration, Real estate / finance-University of Michigan
Bachelor of Business Administration, Real estate / economics-University of Michigan
10 Years-Licensed (Certified General) Appraiser in the State of California
(unlikely to renew unless considered essential for litigation)
20 Years-Licensed Real Estate Broker-State of California (current)
Certificate Programs (Ten + Classes per Certificate)
Expert Witness Certificate Program, California State University at Long Beach
Geographic Information Systems (GIS), University of California at Riverside
Environmental Site Assessment & Remediation, University of California at Irvine
Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
A: 20 Years-Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI designation-inactive)
Triad Community of Practice-A panel of experts in brownfield problems
International Association of Assessing Officers (inactive-past member)
Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
A: 2008 – Solutions to the Five Key Brownfield Valuation Problems – Solved problems that a bilateral working group (the U.S. and German Environmental Protection Agencies) found hinder successful brownfield redevelopment, Presented at the 2006 meeting of the European Real Estate Society in Weimar, Germany. Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Vol. 26 No. 1, 2008 pp. 8-37
2006 – Modeling of Brownfield Redevelopment-Part II-Summarized the solution found in Dr. Weber’s thesis for the second of two major problems that brownfield redevelopers say they have to solve in order to be able to value properties with contaminated land that are to be purchased for remediation and redevelopment. This research was presented at the 2006 meeting of the American Real Estate Society, in Key West, Florida
2005-Integration of the Scientific Process with the Appraisal Process for Evaluating the Feasibility of Brownfield Redevelopment. Title of Dr. Bruce R. Weber’s doctoral thesis.
2005 – Econometric Modeling of Brownfield Redevelopment – Summarized the solution in Dr. Weber’s thesis for the first of two major problems that brownfield redevelopers say that they have to solve in order to value real estate with contaminated land for remediation and redevelopment. This research was presented at the 2005 meeting of the European Real Estate Society, in Dublin, Ireland.
2004 – Valuation via Microsimulation – Research that shows that the “market” has a poor record of accomplishment of estimating present value, based on the analysis of quarterly income vs. cap rates in major U.S. metro areas since 1985. Presented to the American Real Estate Society.
2003 - International Approaches to the Valuation of Land and Property Affected by Contamination-Research commissioned by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, London, on methods used to value contaminated land in the U.K, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
2003 – The Use of GIS for Situs Analysis – Research paper showing how GIS can be used to define trade areas for major retail centers and forecast their sales and resultant values. Accepted for presentation at the June 2003 meeting of the European Real Estate Society, in Helsinki, Finland.
2002 – The Use of GIS & OLAP – Accurate Valuation of (Re)Developable Land, a study of how new GIS and database technology can be of use in econometric modeling as part of the market analysis required prior to using a land residual technique. Shows the development of valuation techniques that are both NCREIF and Daubert-Compliant. Won an ARES Best Paper award for land development. Published in Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management.
2002 – A Beginning Best Practice Brownfield Valuation Model, the forth in a series of studies dealing with advanced methods of quantifying the financial risk and resultant value of brownfields and other (re)developable properties. The Appraisal Journal, January 2002.
2001 – Market Value Without a Market – A Sequel, research that was requested for presentation to the International Association of Assessment Officers at the GIS and CAMA conference held in Baltimore, Maryland. It was an update to an article named Market Value Without a Market, published in the October 1990 issue of the Appraisal Journal.
2000 - Show What You Know, published in the proceedings for Valuation 2000, a multinational meeting of appraisers. Discussed the use of GIS to detect loan fraud. This research was based on a presentation on Fraud and the Real Estate Appraiser. Also published in the October 2001 issue of the Appraisal Journal.
1999 - Jointly authored a chapter in Cities in the Pacific Rim-Planning Systems and Property Markets with Paul Syms, an associate in England. Our chapter in this book discussed the redevelopment of brownfields in the Los Angeles area.
1999 - The Valuation of Contaminated Land, published in The Journal of Real Estate Research, Volume 14, No. 3. Describes the use of Monte Carlo methods for financial risk analysis for the valuation of brownfields. Won an ARES Best Paper award on land development.
1998 - Wrote a chapter in a book titled “GIS in Real Estate: Integrating, Analyzing and Presenting Locational Data”, by the Appraisal Institute and distributed internationally by Adams Business Media/GIS World. The chapter written is titled Application of GIS to Real Estate Appraisal Problems. It describes the use of GIS to quantify the demand for real estate.
Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
A: No
Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
A: One
Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
A: Real Estate Appraisal
Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
A: 100
Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
A: Once
Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?
A: 20+/- years ago
Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
A: Once
Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
A: Once
Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
A: One-Partial-20 +/- years ago.
Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
A: Appraisal review, lack of due diligence, and critique of feasibility analysis
Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
A: $350
Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
A: $350
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
A: $450
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
A: $500
Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
A: Reimbursement for any out of pocket costs other than typical office supplies
