AQB Update On Proposed Changes To Appraiser Qualifications

[The Warrior Monk]

Do appraisers have more public trust now? I feel after the last boom, consumers in general are very skeptical of the whole process and system.

I actually don't have a read on how consumers in general feel, because I never heard the general public or the press discuss the issues. The exception being some recent articles of appraisers coming in low.

The biggest barrier of entry is finding a supervisor and logging hours.

That's no surprise. And that is the norm. Many appraisers are using the boom years as the point of reference, and thinking that is the norm. It is not. During the boom years all one had to do was have a pulse and be able to fog a mirror to become an appraiser. That was not the case before the boom years, and it is not the case after.

Currently, in the residential lending sector, an adjustment period is going on. There was a massive supply from the boom years, which also helped pushed down fees. The oversupply is shrinking, and fees are gradually moving upward, but really haven't risen enough to justify hiring an appraiser-employee. That will eventually change.

However, there are plenty of firms that are, and have been, hiring, such as commercial firms. There never really was an oversupply in that segment, and the fees justify taking on trainees on an as-needed basis.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Where is the evidence? If you don't have evidence, that is very unscientific.

Or are you claiming you are correct just because you went to college and paid for a degree?

That is not very objective. Quite the opposite of "critical thinking."

They may not be more knowledgeable but they certainly earn more money over their lifetime. The figures are out there on income for college graduates vs. non-graduates. The evidence is there, has been there, and will continue to be there.

That said, a college degree for a CR may be overkill. However, as an employer, degree vs no degree would certainly be a tiebreaker when considering hiring someone.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

That is not what I said. You have just changed the subject. I never said anything about income.

You are showing a lack of critical thinking here. You simply can not be objective about the subject because you went to college and paid for a degree.

Now you're really showing your ignorance and bias. One "earns" a degree. I assume you don't have one because you couldn't afford to pay for it?

 

[Dale Floyd]

All this back and forth about college is boring.

There's nothing wrong with college. There's nothing wrong with people succeeding without college. Specialized education is great. Becoming a great appraiser does not require college - But it doesn't hurt to have it. Blah Blah Blah

Now - Back to the ranch.

It sounds like the AQB is going to be seeking guidance with their focus group, and I hope we appraisers are able to give insight without flaking apart into arguments.

There should be a non-college path into the profession as a general licensed appraiser just as it was originally. That wasn't easy, and there are fantastic analysts amongst us who took that path.

There should be a specific path into higher certifications, once a person has become licensed. More experience, specialized education, and testing perhaps. Otherwise, college requirements in order to become certified from the start is logical.

Somebody said that would make too many paths, and cause confusion. My thoughts are simple - There are already three levels, therefore, there are always going to be three paths. Why is that so hard?

FHA assignments of the typical single-family residence, can be done by most licensed appraisers. Stop this nonsense of FHA and banks requiring certification levels for assignments that can easily be completed by licensed professionals and/or even trainees.

And trainees who appraise with the supervision of their signing certified mentors, shouldn't be left out of the process if we want more trainees.

 

[Evincere]

The requirements that were in place a dozen years ago, absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt, did not do that.

The two main reasons, IMHO, were that

• the exam was insanely easy...many people taking the earlier test were in and out with a passing grade in under an hour; and
• the experience requirement was insufficient...blast out the minimum number of cookie cutter appraisals and get licensed/certified.

.

I disagree. Not my experience. Not for myself or others at the time.1992 - Certification went into effect. 1994 - My office had an SRA that took the test 3 times before passing and acquiring the Certification. And held he held the SRA for 3 years prior to taking the test. Those that went after while watching him go back twice, were nervous thinking if an SRA is having such difficulty passing, how many times are we going to have to take it? Our office at that time was owned by an MAI who held just about every designation possible and we all (12 appraisers) worked under his close supervision. It was not a boom cycle and all experience requirements (2,000 hrs) were carefully documented.

 

[BRCJR]

It's been my experience that 3rd grade writing skills seem to go hand-in-hand with 3rd grade analysis, often resulting in ridiculous conclusions. Education actually does solve the help this issue.

Re-read your last sentence.....what was that about writing skills?

 

[The Warrior Monk]

Re-read your last sentence.....what was that about writing skills?

I type very fast and don't typically proof.

BTW, there is no hyphen in "Re-read."

 

[TRESinc]

My opinion, from having reviewed hundreds of these appraisals and interaction with appraisers over the years, is that bad appraisal are rarely due to poor writing skills, a segment may be due to poor reasoning skills, and a larger segment due to violations of the ethics rule. Where I depart from you is I believe that lack of a degree /equivalent in SOME cases, but far too many imo, leads to inadvertent violation of ethics because they cant' stand their ground and are easier to manipulate into it.

It is far less frequent that the college grads or equiv cant' tell the difference of an ethical line into a rationale of everybody is doing it or it's just another 10k slippery slope. If a college grad s going to cross the line, it is likely to be deliberate .

wow. so college teaches ethics. never knew that. there are a lot of old college friends who must have skipped that class...

I agree that there likely is no connection between ethical conduct and weather an appraiser has a college degree

some would disagree. see above...

For years I took live continuing ed USPAP with a great instructor who gave textbook and real world ethics violation examples...the eye rolling, doodling of cartoons and derision under breath elicited from a section of appraisers was telling- I did not ask them did you go to college,but their demeanor, conversation etc indicated they did not. I hate to write it because I don't want to sound like a snob but this is my direct experience.

you should quit appraising right now. your skills are far too valuable to waste on giving you opinion of properties when you have the ability to do things like determine whether or not someone went to college simply by observing them for a short time while in a USPAP class.

 

[Evincere]

It type very fast and don't typically proof.

BTW, there is no hyphen in "Re-read."

incorrect.
https://www.quora.com/Which-is-correct-reread-or-re-read

 

[The Warrior Monk]

I disagree. Not my experience. Not for myself or others at the time.1992 - Certification went into effect. 1994 - My office had an SRA that took the test 3 times before passing and acquiring the Certification. And held he held the SRA for 3 years prior to taking the test. Those that went after while watching him go back twice, were nervous thinking if an SRA is having such difficulty passing, how many times are we going to have to take it? Our office at that time was owned by an MAI who held just about every designation possible and we all (12 appraisers) worked under his close supervision. It was not a boom cycle and all experience requirements (2,000 hrs) were carefully documented.

The designated appraisers I saw failing were typically the people that had taken their basic courses a long time before licensing. The test we told was vastly simpler than the qualifying AIREA/SREA courses. All of my peers at the time passed the first time around, and quickly finished the test.

The people that were failing in the mid 2000s were often people that took classes from proprietary schools that focused on passing the test; not concepts. I know this firsthand because I attended such schools (for certain qualifying classes for my CG), and also consulted with many residential appraisers that couldn't pass the test at that time. Their lack of basic appraisal concepts was astounding.