7 Hour Online USPAP Class - Appraisal Institute Vs Mckissock Vs. Calypso

[Fernando]

Choose the cheapest option. USPAP will not enhance your skills as an appraiser; it primarily serves to exert control over appraisers by bankers and enrich a small group of unethical individuals.

So true. Don't waste your money on AI USPAP. If spend on AI courses, spend on more interesting classes.
I took an AI course when 1004MC first came out. I didn't learn anything. Fernando way still the best.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

Choose the cheapest option. USPAP will not enhance your skills as an appraiser; it primarily serves to exert control over appraisers by bankers and enrich a small group of unethical individuals.

I look at the USPAP update the same way I do a mandatory vehicle inspection, I want the fastest and cheapest. The vast majority of the industry views it that way. For actually learning something useful, I’ll be selective with the electives I take.

 

[Mark K]

FWIW, I've taken all three. Ranked, IMO...

1. McKissock, tedious (but so is USPAP) but I've always completed it in less than 7 hrs. 30 minutes of changes and the rest of the time review.
2. AI- OK but no better than McK.

Waayyy down the list:

3. Calypso...I wouldn't take it again in a million appraiser lifetimes. When I took it they spent about 1/3 to 1/2 of the time drilling into you the corporate structure of TAF and the ASC...how many members, who gets appointed/elected to the positions and how, their terms, how changes get made, plus a bunch of other worthless bureaucratic crap. Without a doubt, the biggest waste of time in my appraisal career.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

mandatory vehicle inspection,

1/3 to 1/2 of the time drilling into you the corporate structure of TAF and the ASC

Really? I don't recall any of that.

 

[DWiley]

Given my familiarity with the material, the online USPAP courses do not generally take me long to complete. Last time I decided to switch it up and do a live online course. It was miserable. The instructor literally just read the slides to us and did nothing to have any meaningful discussion. It was brutal.

 

[Mark K]

Really? I don't recall any of that.

It was probably 10-15 years ago and its burned into my mind, kinda like the photo of Mike Dukakis driving a tank (at least that was funny).

Maybe they've changed...I'll never know.

 

[Mark K]

Given my familiarity with the material, the online USPAP courses do not generally take me long to complete.

Yeah, never taken more than 2.5 to 3 hrs for me.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

never taken more than 2.5 to 3 hrs for me.

The on line courses I have taken were first (as required at the time) via zoom so lasted 7 hours. Calypso online, likewise took me a full 7 hours.

 

[TC]

I took an online course with McKissock a few cycles ago, and it wasn't easy. Each chapter had a test that had to be passed twice before moving on. In the last two cycles, I took an in-person class from the International Institute of Mineral Appraisers. It was a great deal, as breakfast and lunch were included, along with an open bar during happy hour. Oh, and the instructor was excellent!

 

[Mejappz]

I believe The Appraisal Foundation bears significant responsibility for the current level of incompetency within the industry. After all, it is the AQB, under TAF, that sets the qualification standards for education. If appraisers are unable to apply basic concepts, such as a market condition adjustment, it reflects poorly on the effectiveness of those standards and the foundation’s oversight. TAF and the ASC need to go.