My Quickest Report

[DWiley]

Here it's not uncommon to drive 100 miles round trip on an appraisal assignment. Even those assignments in town can involve 20 miles and the traffic can be terrible.

That is true for the typical appraiser. But even in markets with big geographic footprints (like Denver and Houston), is one has business in a concentrated pocket within that market, one can gain efficiency by limiting one's coverage area. It doe snot work for a contractor, but can usually work for a staff appraiser (if there is enough volume)

 

[Joe Flacco]

A major advantage of staff appraisers is the ability to concentrate the work. I have had staff appraisers in suburban Chicago who could (and would) go a whole month without driving more than 5 miles to a property. Cutting down on drive time can greatly increase efficiency. That cannot be achieved everywhere, but in certain markets it is easy to do, if one has enough business (e.g. Chicagoland, Long Island, South Florida)

Well you need scale to do that and that kind of scale does not happen overnight.

Two a day still can't be the expectation. Staff appraisers can't be expected to do two per day to earn a decent income. Then are they expected to ramp up to three per day when it gets busy? In my area it is busy half of the year. Compensation for staff needs to be decent / good year round and then when it gets busy they can earn bonuses working more. It can't be that they earn good income when it is busy and then they have to suffer when it gets slow. Working conditions for staff appraisers need to improve. The first thing that needs to go is the fee split firm model.

 

[DWiley]

Well you need scale to do that and that kind of scale does not happen overnight.

Two a day still can't be the expectation. Staff appraisers can't be expected to do two per day to earn a decent income. Then are they expected to ramp up to three per day when it gets busy? In my area it is busy half of the year. Compensation for staff needs to be decent / good year round and then when it gets busy they can earn bonuses working more. It can't be that they earn good income when it is busy and then they have to suffer when it gets slow. Working conditions for staff appraisers need to improve. The first thing that needs to go is the fee split firm model.

I agree. I don't know of anyone with the two-a-day expectation. We were never anywhere near that.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

doe snot work

I like that... Is it like Buck Snort?

 

[Michigan CG]

Another way to increase efficiency is to use assistants.

I have an assistant but for this one did not use her. After reading about the guy who said appraisers could do 2-3 per day I had the opportunity to do a true cookie-cutter and wanted to see the total time.

I am now off to inspect my 4,000 SF house on 21 acres. Doubt that report will take any less than ten hours.

 

[ucbruin]

I decided I wanted to see how fast I could do a very simple residential report. Details are as follows:

-Looking up comps, putting them in the grid and creating a map;
-Drive the comps and inspect the 1,300 subject property which is 14 miles from my house;
-All comps were within 1/4 mile and comp driving time was less than 10 minutes;
-Drive home (pick up kid on the way home);
-Pull all assessor records and call the Listing Realtors for my four sales and one listing;
-I talked to four of the Realtors, one did not call back;
-Fill out form and write addenda;
-Four comps needed small GLA adjustments, one needed finished basement adjustment, one needed a market conditions adjustment (sale was in December, 2015) and the listing needed a SP/LP adjustment.
-All adjustments explained in report addenda.
-Highest and Best Use analysis is two short paragraphs.
-Reconciliation of value was three short paragraphs.

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Interesting process.....
And
I thought you once shared that you didn't make basement adjustments; unfinished or finished.....

 

[Artemis Fowl]

Sorry. Stupid post.

 

[Michigan CG]

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Interesting process.....
And
I thought you once shared that you didn't make basement adjustments; unfinished or finished.....

Really? I must have been on drugs, oops, I have never taken drugs. Maybe it was you?

 

[ucbruin]

I prefer to look up assessor data prior to driving my comps.

 

[TRESinc]

i can top that

did a full on a purchase and 2 days after turning it in got a 2055 order on the same house for a bridge loan for the seller.