............................Tip #2
Back way the fark up and get away from the forms-driven (SR2) appraisal development (SR1) mentality. If you're trying to prepare a new generation of appraisers for the more sophisticated environment they're going to be serving over the next 30-40 years of their careers you need a clean break from the form monkey mentality. You need to reframe everything into the underlying fundamentals that will enable them to perform to similar effect in any applicable appraisal protocol regardless of its cosmetics.....................
George, you are absolutely correct. If someone wanted to REALLY train new appraisers how to truly do the job correctly they would teach them the fundamentals of the profession WITHOUT the form(s). The goal of AXIS and Joan Trice is NOT to train competent appraisers or ones that will know anything outside of the GSE box, the goal is to train new "appraisers" how to fill out the form as quickly as possible without any depth of knowledge about what they are doing.
The BEST way to learn the job and UNDERSTAND the job is to be able to write it, without the crutches of the FORMS. I doubt this is the goal of AXIS or Joan Trice and the rest of the crew. They are looking for people to train the next generation that will keep those fees in the low $300 area.
If I were to train a new (residential) appraiser I would make them be able to write a narrative appraisal that mimicked the 1004 form, the 2055 form, the GP forms, the Income Forms and any other residential form. They won't do that and I doubt any person developing their "training" has the ability to do it yet alone teach it. I was not able to find a single reference on the AXIS web page about their Chief Appraiser. For all we know the chief appraiser is a form-filling idiot.
If I were to start with the easiest section of the 1004 I could go to special assessments and guarantee that some appraisers don't know what those are and how to research them. They would not be able to explain what a special assessment is and how long it might last and what impact on value that special assessment might have. But let us not worry about that. Let us jump to the neighborhood section.
A person who is taught to write a narrative report addressing every aspect of the 1004 would need to be able to support the ONE-UNIT HOUSING TRENDS and checking the box is not support. In many areas (my area included) the 1004MC is worthless and meaningless so that is not a source and besides, that is a FORM, and the goal, should I train someone, would be to have that trainee have the ability to write a fully supportive narrative without the form as a crutch to hold them up.
But let us skip the rest of the neighborhood section and move on.
That leads us to the SITE part of the appraisal and our narrative on the site. Zoning, there are actually appraisers who say that researching zoning is beyond the Scope of Work (funny how they fully use that SCOPE OF WORK argument but don't understand that zoning is a basic appraisal 101 part of the assignment). But there is this little box in this section that asks about Highest and Best Use. Oops, that is just a formality and just check the YES box as according to some (just saw this yesterday) the Highest and Best Use is ALWAYS the current use. Some idiots teach (aka, train, mentor) new "appraisers" this. The OP of this thread has identified that the Highest and Best Use is not just a box to check. If anyone remembers (Joan Trice and the two leaders of AXIS won't) the 2014 USPAP update, they would remember that the Highest and Best Use really needs to be summarized, in narrative and that point was stressed in the update. But anyway, let us move on or not. Then there is the reconciliation of value section of the report or at least the reconciliation of the different approaches, or why the heck did the appraiser put THAT number as the opinion of value? This training program won't teach them that because the AMC model accepts that Mr. Appraiser gets to say that the number is THIS and not explain WHY it is this.
My point is, the training program will not create knowledgeable appraisers yet alone any COMPETENT appraisers, it will not train an appraiser to do any report other than one for lending assignments for AMC work of which many are pathetic. But hopefully those appraisers will work for $300 and get that report turned within 48 hours.
