Links

Categories

• Appraisal Institute Related Sites
• Appraisal Regulations and Regulatory Agencies
• Appraisal Resource Related Websites
• Appraisal Data
• Census Tract
• Flood Hazard Certifications and Maps
• Maps
• Software Vendors
• Government Agencies and Entities - National
• General
• Federal Department and Agencies
• HUD
• Government Agencies and Entities - Local
• County Assessors, Treasurers & Miscellaneous Websites
• Township Assessors
• State of Illinois
• Industry News Sources
• Real Estate Related Organizations

Appraisal Institute Related Sites     Back to Top

• Appraisal Institute Local Chapter Links
  http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/resources/links_aichaps.asp
  Chapter websites from around the country

• Liability Insurance Administrators
  http://www.liability.com/
  E and O Insurance Provider

• Real Estate Appraisers Group Insurance Trust
  http://www.reagit.com
  Health, Life and Disability Insurance Provider

Appraisal Regulations and Regulatory Agencies     Back to Top

• Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials - AARO
  http://www.aaro.net
  Association for State Regulatory Officials from around the country

• Code of Federal Regulations
  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html
  National Archives and Records Administration site with tons of regs online for everything

• Division of Professional Regulation - Appraisal Division
  http://www.obre.state.il.us/REALEST/APPRAISAL.HTM

• The Appraisal Foundation
  http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/
  The USPAP people

Appraisal Resource Related Websites     Back to Top

• Building-Cost.net
  http://www.building-cost.net/
  This site allows you to develop a home construction or replacement cost that considers all the important variables: materials used, design features, quality, size, shape, heating, cooling and geographic area. Your printed estimate shows detailed labor and material costs for each of 34 construction cost categories. Plus, it's FREE!

• Chicago Tribune Home Page
  http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/transactions/
  Site reports sales transactions from recorder office data. Several counties are online

• City-Data.com
  http://www.city-data.com/
  Great site. Has profiles of all U.S. cities with maps, satellite photos, geographical data, crime data, housing, businesses, political contributions, weather, hospitals, schools, houses, zip codes, area codes, stats about race, income, ancestries, education, employment and more...

• Citytowninfo.com
  http://www.citytowninfo.com
  Another site offering free statistical data on Cities and Towns across the country.

• Community Profiles in Illinois
  http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/dceo/Bureaus/Facts_Figures/Illinois_Census_Data/
  Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs

• CoStar Group - Comps.com
  http://www.costar.com
  Site for online commercial and industrial property data

• Crimescreen.com
  http://www.crimescreen.com/linkspage.htm#Michigan
  This site offers free web access to Public Records all over the country. Some of the site links include: Assessors, Recorders, Treasurers, Law Enforcement, Courts Records, etc. You can spend hours on this site folks.

• E-Podunk
  http://www.epodunk.com/
  Another good site to search for community info on cities and towns around the country, plus it is a cool name for a site!

• efanniemae.com
  http://www.efanniemae.com
  Great site to download Fannie Sellers Guide, appraisal forms, industry updates and more...

• Home Price Check
  http://www.domania.com/homepricecheck/index.jsp?null
  Free website for recorder office info

• HP12C Calculator Emulator
  http://homepage.mac.com/riclira/Menu3.html
  HP-12C emulator program for $16.00 fee This is a great software program. It talks to you as you run through the functions. Press the yellow F key or the blue G key, all corresponding keys light up.

• Market Data Center - Redlink
  http://www.marketdatacenter.com/
  Provides complete records on 1-4 family properties, including up to 30 years of historical data. Data includes property characteristics for all metro Chicago counties

• NETR ONLINE
  http://www.netronline.com/public_records.htm
  This site offers a ton of public data all over the country. It appears to be mostly fee based. Some of the stuff you can search for includes: Properties Search, Criminal Records, Divorce Info, Death Info, Comparable Properties, Transfer Reports, Prior Sales, Parcel Maps and more. One of the cool free features let you search Towns/Cities/ Zip Codes to see what County they are in.

• Ordinance.Com
  http://www.ordinance.com/
  Site provides local ordinances, tax maps, file maps and flood maps

• R.S. Means Building Glossary
  http://www.rsmeans.com/dictionary/
  Cool dictionary for construction terminology

• Realty Rates.com
  http://www.realtyrates.com/
  A comprehensive resource of real estate investment and development news, trends, analytics, and market research

• Search Systems - Public Record Locator
  http://www.searchsystems.net/
  Over 17,000 FREE searchable public records databases. This could be the best appraisal tool site out there yet.

• White Pages
  http://www.whitepages.com/10583/?source=GO000005&KW=white_pages
  Great site to track down phone numbers!!!

• FFIEC's Census Tract search page
  http://www.ffiec.gov/geocode/default.htm
  Hosted by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council

• US Census Bureau - American Fact Finder - Census Tract search page
  http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/AGSGeoAddressServlet?_lang=en&_programYear=
  50&_treeId=420
  Great census tract search engine. Provides many different area maps for census tract, voting districts, zip codes, PMSA's and much, much more...

• US Census Bureau Maps and Products
  http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/

• Digital Media Services - Flood Maps Online
  http://www.floodmaps.com/

• DuPage County Regulatory Flood Map RFM Download Site
  http://www.dupageco.org/dec/generic.cfm?doc_id=837
  This site has pdf’s of FEMA maps for DuPage County. The maps load real slow. They appear to be aerial maps with Zone A Flood areas shaded in light blue.

• FEMA - National Flood Insurance Program - Community Status Book
  http://www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm
  Site for listings of all participating communities in the National Flood Insurance Program

• FEMA flood maps online - FREE!
  http://store.msc.fema.gov
  Click on "Map Search", enter the property address, click "Go", click "View", click "Make a Firmette", drag the pink rectangle in the upper left corner to the area on the map where the property is located, click "Image File", click "Save your Firmette, now you can either save the map or open it and print it.

• Flood Insights.com - Transamerica Flood Hazard Certifications
  http://www.floodinsights.com/floodlookups/index.htm

• Flood Source.com - Flood Maps Online
  http://www.floodsource.com/FSW/servlet/FswServlet

• InterFlood.com - Flood Maps Online
  http://www.interflood.com

• City of Chicago Aerial Maps
  http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_aerials
  Cool site. Pics are a little blurry. Search by property address.

• City of Chicago Plat Maps
  http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_transonly
  This site has a few problems. Sometimes it shows you the plat and other times it doesn't. It's very fussy about how you enter the address. If you don't get the plat after you perform your search, you can click on the link that says " Print Entire 80 Acre Sheet". It then jumps to a pdf and the entire plat page comes up. Use the zoom in tool to find your lot.

• City of Chicago Structures
  http://maps.cityofchicago.org/kiosk/mpaddress.jsp?maptype=mapsplats_structures
  This site shows you the exterior footprint for buildings in the city. Search by property address.

• City of Chicago Zoning Maps
  http://maps.cityofchicago.org/website/zoning/

• DuPage County Zoning - Unincorporated
  http://ec.dupageco.org/dec/cfm/zoning.cfm
  

• Google Maps
  http://maps.google.com/
  One of the best mapping programs out there. Just enter the street address, town, state and zip. Check out the satellite pics feature!

• Map Quest
  http://www.mapquest.com/
  Free mapping program. Search by address

• Natural Resource Conservation Service - Soil Surveys and Maps
  http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/
  Provides online soil surveys and maps for many States and has several links to additional offline data.

• Ordinance.Com
  http://www.ordinance.com/
  Local ordinances, tax maps, file maps and flood maps

• Sidwell Maps Online
  http://www.sidwellmaps.com/

• Will County Plat Maps
  http://www.willcountysoa.com/willco.htm
  Great site with FREE plat maps for the entire County

• ACI - The Appraisers Choice Software
  http://www.aciweb.com/

• Al A Mode - Win Total
  http://www.alamode.com/

• Marshall and Swift
  http://www.marshallswift.com/

• The Residential Appraiser - Appraise IT
  http://www.sfrep.com/

Government Agencies and Entities - National     Back to Top

• Appraisal Subcommittee Website - National Registry
  http://www.asc.gov/

• Environmental Protection Agency - EPA
  http://www.energystar.gov

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
  http://www.fdic.gov/

• Federal Reserve Bank (FRB)
  http://www.federalreserve.gov/

• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
  http://www.occ.treas.gov/

• Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)
  http://www.ots.treas.gov/

• U.S. Bureau of Labor
  http://stats.bls.gov/
  Offers a variety of national surveys to gather data on employment, unemployment, productivity, prices and earnings

• U.S. Census Bureau
  http://www.census.gov/
  Provides a wealth of social, demographic and economic information

• U.S. Department of Commerce
  http://www.osec.doc.gov/eda/
  Economic Development Administration

• U.S. Department of Labor
  http://www.dol.gov/
  Site provides direct access to databases of the DOL and of other government agencies that contain labor, employment, and economic data

• Code of Federal Regulations
  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html
  National Archives and Records Administration site. Tons of regs online for everything

• Fannie Mae
  http://www.fanniemae.com/

• Freddie Mac
  http://www.freddiemac.com/

• National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
  http://www.ncua.gov/

• U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
  http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/

• HUD - FHA Appraisers Homepage
  http://www.hud.gov/groups/appraisers.cfm

• HUD Atlanta Homeownership Center - HOC
  http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/talk/addr_atl.cfm
  This is the HUD office that oversees appraisal requirements for the Chicagoland market

• HUD CLIPS
  http://www.hudclips.org/cgi/index.cgi
  Huds client information and policy system

• HUD Condo Project Approval List
  https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm

• HUD FHA Approved Appraiser List
  http://www.hud.gov/groups/appraisers.cfm

• HUD Real Estate Assessment Center - REAC
  http://www.hud.gov/offices/reac/index.cfm

Government Agencies and Entities     Back to Top

• Division of Professional Regulation - Appraisal Division
  http://www.obre.state.il.us/REALEST/APPRAISAL.HTM

• Illinois General Assembly Homepage
  http://www.ilga.gov/

• Illinois General Assembly Legislation Status Page
  http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/default.asp

• Illinois Housing Development Authority - IHDA
  http://www.ihda.org/
  IHDA offers first-time homebuyers below market interest rate loans based on purchase price and income limits

• Illinois State Representatives Search Page
  http://www.ilga.gov/
  Under ADDITIONAL RESOURCES click on the LEGISLATIVE LOOKUP link to access the search page.

• Illinois State Senators Search Page
  http://www.ilga.gov/
  Under ADDITIONAL RESOURCES click on the LEGISLATIVE LOOKUP link to access the search page.

• Law.com (General information page concerning laws and legislation)
  http://www.law.com/regionals/il/index.shtml

• LegINFO.org (Organization that monitors all pending legislation in Illinois)
  http://www.leginfo.org/?ref=goto

Industry News Sources     Back to Top

• Appraisal Buzz.com
  http://www.appraisalbuzz.com/

• Appraisal Today
  http://www.appraisaltoday.com/

• Bankrate.com
  http://www.bankrate.com/brm/default.asp
  Site for current interest rates for local bank products including mortgages and CD's

• Realtytimes.com
  http://www.realtytimes.com/
  This is an online news service featuring many articles about the appraisal industry

Real Estate Related Organizations     Back to Top

• American National Standards Institute ANSI
  http://www.ansi.org/

• American Society of Home Inspectors - ASHI
  http://www.ashi.com/

• Illinois Association of Realtors - IAR
  http://www.illinoisrealtor.org/

• Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association - IMBA
  http://www.imba.org/

• International Association of Assessing Officers - IAAO
  http://www.iaao.org/
  Organization of property tax Assessors

• NAR Appraisal Source.com
  http://www.narappraisalsource.com/

• National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
  http://www.nahb.com/

• National Association of Realtors (NAR)
  http://www.realtor.org/

• The Appraisal Foundation
  http://www.appraisalfoundation.org/
  The USPAP people