Trainee

[deepearce]

I am going onto two years with a trainee. At this point, he has worked on 40 appraisal reports and 320 hours. At this stage, I have yet to pay him anything based on a mutual agreement. However, he is now asking for a paycheck and I'm not completely sure what the standard pay is for a trainee that I still have to go on inspections and cannot sign a report. I also have informed him that the level of business is way down with maybe a few appraisal assignments a month. I am inclined to inspect and complete all reports until the level of assignments increase, significantly. I am open to any and all thoughts on the subject.

 

[Tiffany Gibbons]

I am going onto two years with a trainee. At this point, he has worked on 40 appraisal reports and 320 hours. At this stage, I have yet to pay him anything based on a mutual agreement. However, he is now asking for a paycheck and I'm not completely sure what the standard pay is for a trainee that I still have to go on inspections and cannot sign a report. I also have informed him that the level of business is way down with maybe a few appraisal assignments a month. I am inclined to inspect and complete all reports until the level of assignments increase, significantly. I am open to any and all thoughts on the subject.

That is just awful. My mentor paid me per report depending on what I did on each report in the early 90s. I got a fee split that was less than the CRs made, but more than I made as an Office Manager for a small family owned company. I got my hours and was able to go on inspections by myself after 1000 hours and 1 year of inspections with my supervisor but until then I rode with him and he bought my fast food lunch every day as well. When I got my CG hours, I was already a CR, but still got paid a fee split for my work with my commercial supervisor as well. Surely, this is 40 residential reports, not commercial reports? I cannot imagine working for free whatever mutual agreement you have with your trainee. SMH. I guess it depends on that arrangement, hopefully it is mutually beneficial. I worked probably 60 hours a week as a trainee. This person must have another way to earn income.

 

[friendlyeddie]

I didn't get paid much as a trainee, enough to barely cover my utilities. You can guess what happened when I got certified. Not sure why a trainee would stick with you? If you don't have the money or capacity to allow the trainee to progress their career then it would be in both of your best interest to be honest to that fact. 40 assignments in 2 years is not worth the trouble for either of you.

 

[Tiffany Gibbons]

I didn't get paid much as a trainee, enough to barely cover my utilities. You can guess what happened when I got certified. Not sure why a trainee would stick with you? If you don't have the money or capacity to allow the trainee to progress their career then it would be in both of your best interest to be honest to that fact. 40 assignments in 2 years is not worth the trouble for either of you.

I agree. I also stayed with my supervisor's company for 15 years, i was loyal because I received fair pay. I only quit to work for the assessor after the last economic crash because there was not enough work for the entire company.

 

[Charles West]

I am going onto two years with a trainee. At this point, he has worked on 40 appraisal reports and 320 hours. At this stage, I have yet to pay him anything based on a mutual agreement. However, he is now asking for a paycheck and I'm not completely sure what the standard pay is for a trainee that I still have to go on inspections and cannot sign a report. I also have informed him that the level of business is way down with maybe a few appraisal assignments a month. I am inclined to inspect and complete all reports until the level of assignments increase, significantly. I am open to any and all thoughts on the subject.

You have to explain the reality of the cyclical real estate industry to your charge, especially the delicate appraiser compensation end of it. If he has worked for two years and only was involved in 40 reports the business model isn't going to work. Working on 40 reports a month is a normal production schedule.

 

[deepearce]

That is just awful. My mentor paid me per report depending on what I did on each report in the early 90s. I got a fee split that was less than the CRs made, but more than I made as an Office Manager for a small family owned company. I got my hours and was able to go on inspections by myself after 1000 hours and 1 year of inspections with my supervisor but until then I rode with him and he bought my fast food lunch every day as well. When I got my CG hours, I was already a CR, but still got paid a fee split for my work with my commercial supervisor as well. Surely, this is 40 residential reports, not commercial reports? I cannot imagine working for free whatever mutual agreement you have with your trainee. SMH. I guess it depends on that arrangement, hopefully it is mutually beneficial. I worked probably 60 hours a week as a trainee. This person must have another way to earn income.

As a clarification, I wasn’t looking to take on a trainee and he convinced me to take him on. Taking on a trainee is a lot of work and apparently there is discussion of trainees paying certified appraisers for the opportunity to get the training. He has a full time job and does this on the side. There hasn’t been much motivation on either side to get required hours for quicker certification and I have been open to him getting an additional supervisor with more work.

 

[deepearce]

You have to explain the reality of the cyclical real estate industry to your charge, especially the delicate appraiser compensation end of it. If he has worked for two years and only was involved in 40 reports the business model isn't going to work. Working on 40 reports a month is a normal production schedule.

 

[deepearce]

Your absolutely right and he’s well aware of the cyclical flow of work, particularly over past six months. Not sure why anyone would jump into appraisal field given the uncertainty of a steady income.

 

[Tiffany Gibbons]

As a clarification, I wasn’t looking to take on a trainee and he convinced me to take him on. Taking on a trainee is a lot of work and apparently there is discussion of trainees paying certified appraisers for the opportunity to get the training. He has a full time job and does this on the side. There hasn’t been much motivation on either side to get required hours for quicker certification and I have been open to him getting an additional supervisor with more work.

Yes, I've had people try to convince me they will work for free to get hours or offer to pay me for supervision as well, I just never wanted the liability to train someone like that. It just didn't seem worth it. Being an appraiser was always a full time job for me, even when I was a trainee. Plus, if you had a mutual agreement that the trainee would work for free and now they want payment, the mutual agreement seems to be at an end.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Put him in the business of doing Property inspections and let him keep it all. You don't sign on those. And generally if they can inspect on their own, I gave them half to start. But I didn't deal with FHA and FNMA either. So for an in house bank, my inspection was not necessary. Sounds like you only do secondary market.