Read more: https://fcar.org/onlinenewsletter/green-mls-tool-kit/

CHICAGO (April 21, 2010) – The Appraisal Institute today praised a new resource that will help real estate appraisers provide even more reliable valuations on homes with energy efficient features.

The Green Multiple Listing Service Tool Kit (https://www.greenthemls.org) provides guidance on enhancing data in the MLS, which will empower appraisers to make well-supported comparisons, analyses and adjustments. Besides the Appraisal Institute, other organizations that collaborated on the tool kit include the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Green Building Council.

“We are pleased to participate in this important effort to enhance the data found in the MLS,” said Appraisal Institute President Leslie Sellers, MAI, SRA. “With more data on homes’ energy efficient features, appraisers will be able to perform more comparisons and analytical analyses and therefore present even more reliable valuations, which will benefit everyone involved in a real estate transaction.”

The Appraisal Institute is the nation’s largest organization of real estate appraisers. A MLS is a database by and for the real estate profession that provides information about properties for sale. It is the primary vehicle for the vast majority of real estate transactions.

As Appraisal Institute member Don Briggs, MAI, SRA, wrote on the Green MLS Took Kit’s Web site: “Consumers and real estate agents frequently ask about how much green improvements increase property values. Unfortunately, there is no way to find out because such features have not been added as searchable fields in most MLSs today. However … certified green homes have a clear market advantage over conventional homes.”

The tool kit provides a snapshot of the green home industry, outlines why adopting a green initiative for the MLS is important and offers strategies for effective changes. The recommendations in the tool kit are a “best practices” and step-by-step guide to a successful implementation.

The tool kit also contains access to supporting documents and resources that will assist the process of greening the MLS. These resources include links to case studies of MLS systems which have completed a green initiative, example data entry forms containing searchable green features, a glossary of green terms, and much more.

“Given their reliance on data, appraisers would be thrilled with more robust information in the MLS,” Sellers said. “That’s especially true when it comes to a home’s energy efficient features.”

As Briggs wrote on the Web site: “An MLS that gathers information with more accuracy becomes more valuable to appraisers. As the green home comparable data improves, the appraiser can begin to support the value placed on other green home features such as water efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. As a result, they will be able to more accurately assess and place proper value on green homes.”

The Appraisal Institute is an innovative leader in green valuation. The organization signed the Vancouver Valuation Accord (https://www.vancouveraccord.org) with other valuation organizations, offers seminars on green valuation topics (“An Introduction to Valuing Green [Commercial] Buildings” and “Valuation of Green Residential Properties”), publishes relevant articles in its quarterly publications (The Appraisal Journal and Valuation), next month will publish a book on the topic (“An Introduction to Green Homes”) and next year plans to offer a green building certificate program.

To download the 36-page Green MLS Tool Kit, go to https://www.greenthemls.org/pdfs/Green_MLS_Toolkit.pdf. 

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