People outside of the Birmingham, Alabama market area may not know what A.G.D.A. is but they would probably understand its importance. A.G.D.A. stands for Appraiser Group Data Association. It consists of a group of real estate appraisers in the Birmingham metro area that collects data on homes they appraise and share it with one another. Information such as gross living area (including basement area if present), house features, land size, property amenities, and financing terms is included.
This is very important if you are a lender or someone else who hires appraisers in the Birmingham area, because it is the most accurate and reliable source of physical data for comparable sales. Most Realtors in other areas include the square footage information for appraisers to use, however Birmingham area Realtors did not, until recently. Last year the local MLS offered the option for them to include it, however most still don’t. The only other source of information for appraisers to use, if they are not a member of A.G.D.A., is the county records. Property data provided by the county is hit or miss on most properties.
Have you ever got an appraisal in the Birmingham, Alabama area? Was the appraiser a member of A.G.D.A.? If they were not then the accuracy of the data needs to be questioned. I have performed review appraisals on reports that appraisers did who were not a member of A.G.D.A. and found numerous mistakes, mostly pertaining to gross living area, both on the main level and the basement. Small differences in living area can translate into significant errors in the final value estimate. One thing you might want to consider if you are ordering an appraisal in this area is whether the appraiser is a member of A.G.D.A. I am a member of this data service and have used it as long as I have been appraising in Alabama. When you order and appraisal from my company you can count on getting an appraisal with the most accurate comparable data available. Please let me know if I can be of service to you.
If you have any real estate appraisal related questions you can call me at 205.243.9304, email me, or connect with me on facebook.
Is there a similar service that lists this information in Florida?
I’m not sure. The AGDA service that is the subject of this article is located in Birmingham, AL.
Interesting — what information is shared besides sq. ft./property details? Are the actual appraised values shared as well?
Thanks for the post – very informative!
The only information shared is square footage and features of the home, for example if it had a pool, etc.