Following the crash of the U.S. economy, the federal government decided to revamp the process through which its citizens could borrow money for the purchase of homes.

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) was initiated forcing properties to be evaluated by appraisers chosen from pools by appraisal management companies (APC). Consequently, appraisers’ fees were diminished as the APCs charged the appraisers to be chosen.

As a result, appraisal fees were increased and the appraisals often were conducted by bureaucratic savvy appraisers from outlying areas while highly regarded knowledgeable local appraisers were overlooked. This contributed to the decline in property values.

In its effort to provide transparency to the borrowers, the regulators have made the process opaque. In the past, borrowers were provided good faith estimates outlining all of the costs associated with the mortgage. These were provided to borrowers following inquiries as to the cost of obtaining loans.

Beginning about a year and a half ago, these estimates were replaced with “fee worksheets” which are not required as the good faith estimates were and the truth in lending statement does not include all of the costs as it once did. Therefore, buyers are not provided the information that they were before this transparency was put in place.

Additionally, lenders now are being required to glean more information from the borrowers in order to process the loan. And if, as a result of newly found data that the loan transaction is off by an eighth of a point, the truth in lending must be reworked and resubmitted and the loan may not close within three days -- even if the borrowers agree with the situations that were perhaps created by them.

Looking at home sales, as the unit numbers of sales increase in the Nashville area, median prices are rising one month, falling the next.

One method of determining how the market is faring is to look at the resale of homes that were purchased four years ago. Upper-end homes that sold for $1 million or more four years ago, now may sell for 20-30 percent less than their previous purchase price. In some pockets such as 12 South, they are holding their own, if not increasing.

Online services such as Zillow and others are not aware of subtle market boundaries and often miss the mark by as much as 20 percent. Before selling, consult a Realtor for a comparative market analysis (CMA). Most will provide a CMA at no cost, but an appraiser that understands the local market is always the best bet.

Richard Courtney is a real estate broker with Pilkerton Realtors and the author of Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles and can be reached at [email protected]