Courtesy of

Amerival Tel. 732-286-3000

FAX 732-612-1400

Email & Web

myappraiser.amerival@ymail.com

http://www.amerival.net

Director Of Operations:

Albert M. Cerone

Regional Realty Associates:

Dan Warthen, Jr.

Jay Jurasek

Dave Kaytes

Peter R. Vidi

Louis A. Bonato

James Hanson

Associate Professionals:

Michael Cannon, P.E.

Bob McCook

Juan Bellu, EA

Rich McCabe

Of Counsel-

Michael C. Paxton, Esq.

DECEMBER 15, 2015

Issue 215

Amerival Realty & Valuation Newsletter

DECEMBER & BUSINESS BY

Albert M. Cerone, IFAS, FELLOW, CTA

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY CHANUKAH- Having Jewish friends, I’ve become accustom to recogniz-

ing the importance and beauty of Chanukah (aka Hanukkah or Hanukah). This year the festival of lights began

on December 6 and ends on December 13. The reason this holiday receives less attention in the United States

is not because it’s celebrated by a religious group that has less followers than those believing in Christian re-

ligions, but because there’s no set date on which it is celebrated. Hanukkah begins on the day 25 of Kislev

and lasts for 8 days. Hanukkah was recorded in the First Book of Maccabees, which is part of the Apocrypha.

And, the Feast of Dedication (aka Chanukah) is mentioned n the New Testament Book of John, chapter 10,

verse 22.

A quick understanding is through this story of persecution suffered by the Jewish people living in Judea prior

to 165 BC the Jewish people lived under the coarse rule of the Greek kings of Damascus. During the rule of

King Antiochus Epihpanes he ordered the Jewish people punishment. One way to make them come to their

knees by forbidding them to read the Torah and bowing before the Greek gods. He then defiled the Temple by

killing a pig on the sacred altar and having the blood saturate the holy scrolls of Scripture.

Four Jewish brothers raised an army to fight for their freedom. A three year war was fought and the Greeks

gave up and left the area. The brothers were the Maccabees who then removed the Greek idolatry and

cleansed the alter to once again serve their religion. The Temple of the Lord was rededicated on the 25th day

of the Hebrew month, Kislev. So, Hanukkah received its first name of the Feast of the Dedication which

represents the Maccabees’s victory over the oppression they had suffered.

Now, why the name Festival of Lights? The Greeks had tainted virtually all the oil left in Judea. The cele-

brants didn’t have enough oil to burn more than one day. So, the “eternal flame” was to be lit for one day.

However, once lit it miraculously stayed lit for 8 days at which time the people were able to make new oil and

keep the “eternal flame” lit forever and hence, the Menorah. Read further:

Here’s why we all should be so happy that the Maccabees won the battle and

expelled the Greeks / Syrians. The Jewish commemorate this miracle of oil by

making oil-rich foods, such as Latkas which is rich potato pancake a very im-

portant part of the feast for Hanukkah. Having had the culinary privilege of

eating home made fresh Latka, I can tell you, go out and make Jewish friends

and be honest about your friendship and you will likely get invited to have a

beautiful Chanukah dinner or one of the other festivals they celebrate. If you

do that, you will realize that the delicious Latkes are a tasty morsel compared

to the friendship you will have with your Jewish friends.

NOW THE CHRISTMAS PART- There is no reason to go through the origin of Christmas. The stories and

understandings have been discussed and written about and in our technological age listened music and verse

setting a mood and passion for the time of year. Hundreds of movies have been made and Christmas specials

still have a major place on TV.

Many believe that Christmas has become too commercialized which probably has some truth. However, the

commercialization does keep the holiday in focus. Each of us has the right in this our country, the United

States to practice whatever religion we choose. That’s one of the beauties of living in the country. We have

the right to worship as we please, to speak our piece and not be condemned for the thought. Political Correct-

ness now known as PC has become a bane. In the horrendous murders in California earlier this month, a per-

son allegedly didn’t notify the authorities of his / her suspicions of the on-goings by the people living near be-

cause of being considered a racist or person of religious bias. This is quite the problem.

Fortunately, because of the strength of the Christians in this country, Merry Christmas has once again become

the favorite greeting or good-bye. Jewish friends of ours have all said, “wish me anything you want as long as

it’s good.” It’s a wonderful time of year in which consideration, kindness, generosity and love and caring are

to be practiced to a somewhat greater degree than normally. Maybe those who say, Christmas should be every

day are right.

So, whether you celebrate Christmas or Chanukah, have a wonderful Holiday time this year.

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF A PIECE—TAXPAYERS VS PRINCETON UNIVERSITY- It was

brought to my attention that the writing within the piece mentioned was very misleading and painted a picture

of tax assessor’s that was not intended. In fact the exact opposite is that which was intended. I am disap-

pointed in myself for the mis-use of words and the much less quality of writing in this piece. As they say, ‘you

can’t un-toot, a tooted horn’ but you can express the regret for having failed. Thankfully, in 215 newsletters

over 10 years, this did not happen. But it did this time. Tax assessors are maligned many times by many peo-

ple. The furthest thing from my mind was to get on that ill-gotten band wagon. Those who know me are well

aware that I have 24 years of working as a professional liability expert for insurance carriers for appraisers and

yes, under certain circumstances, tax assessors. There are those out there who know this. I have endeavored

to make sure they were all treated fairly and I took out all the stops to make sure they had the best opportunity

of defense. I also know how wrongly they were considered and were seen as easy targets for the sake of dol-

lars. I have fought for them and will continue to fight for them. So, again, it is unfortunate that my words

were wrongly chosen and contained in a disjointed writing. I promise I will not let this happen again.

HELLO CROWDFUNDING- You are one step up on us if you know what this term, crowdfunding, means.

Apparently, the age of internet is now providing a way to raise money for whatever your needs are to include

needing a dentist to fill your teeth. [don't’ ask me, I read it]. Crowdfunding dates back to the completion of

the State of Liberty. Money was needed to complete it so Joseph Pulitzer started a drive [not with the inter-

net1] to raise the money to complete the project. So, what they are doing now is a continuance of this kind of

fund raising.

Housing has some special niche sites that can help with home purchases, building, re-modeling or additions.

Apparently, the mainstream sites are Kickstarter or GoFundMe. Now, there are others. A quick rundown:

Hatch My House– build a virtual home letting others buy parts to help with the down payment, renovation, etc.

Feather the Nest– is a platform to convey your plans when a down payment is needed or furnishings, etc.

Down Payment Dreams– It’s for funding that needed DP & can help find a REALTOR.

Honeyfund– it began as a honeymoon registry but now offers registries, such as "fun”, a down payment fund,

home improvements and an any-occasion registry.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have no idea what these are about. So, if you know what they are or can explain

them, please call us or write to us an we’ll let the readers know.

THANKS, & MERRY CHRISTMAS AND BELATED HAPPY HANUKKAH

Angel Falls in Venezuela. From a plane you must

see it in two pieces, above and then below the

clouds. It’ over 1 mile high

Igazu Falls in Brazil. How frightening is

this!

You gotta know this without help.

UPCOMING NEW JERSEY NAIFA 5OTH ANNIVERSARY APPRAISAL CONFERENCE-

Dates: April 12 & 13, 2016

Place: Harrah’s Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ (777Harah’s Blvd.; Tel. 844-619-0667)

The 1st day will have the 2016 & 2017 required 7 hour USPAP seminar. So don’t miss the first opportunity of

a professionally presented USPAP seminar being conducted by a highly recognized and sought after national

instructor from Tennessee.

The next day will have several offerings of which one is a Land Use Seminar which will have 2 highly recog-

nized land use attorneys and a New Jersey land use expert with years of successful experience and published in

the specialty. This will be followed by a mock land use hearing featuring the two attorneys from the seminar

and the expert who shall be chairman of the board accompanied by a partner from a New York law firm with

high powered experience. They will present a land use case which will be decided by the board and then de-

cided by the audience. Don’t miss this!! Ask those who attended last years conference in which there was a

mock tax board hearing that 150 people were absolutely thrilled. This will be at least as good.

Also scheduled is a 5 hour special FHA seminar to be conducted by Tom Munizzo, a former NAIFA national

president. Mr. Munizzo, a highly recognized speaker throughout the U.S. with an exciting flair.

There is also a new real estate law seminar required for NJ appraisers which will be presented by Joseph

Palumbo, a member of the NJ Appraisal Board. He was responsible for some of the success our 2015 confer-

ence enjoyed with the NJ board update.

And, an exciting and novel 2 hour “edge of your seat” seminar entitled “Weird and Unusual Assignments”

which will be presented jointly by Chuck Blau, Esq, IFAS, Carl Mucciolo, IFAS and John Marrazzo, IFAS, all

past NJ State Directors.

Keep watching for updates. Go to the NJNAIFA website for up to the minute updates for the seminar. The

website is http://NJNAIFA.COM.