Any Suggestions On How To Find A Mentor?

[HTPA]

I just completed my 75 hours of training courses. Now I have the task of putting in my 1000 hours of training. Of course, now I need to find someone I can hopefully do an apprenticeship with. I live in Ocean County, NJ. Anyone have advice on a good way or place I can find a dedicated mentor? Thanks in advance!

 

[George Hatch]

Here's some advice:

This

I just completed my 75 hours of training courses. Now I have the task of putting in my 1000 hours of training. Of course, now I need to find someone I can hopefully do an apprenticeship with. I live in Ocean County, NJ. Anyone have advice on a good way or place I can find a dedicated mentor? Thanks in advance!

Could be reworded to look something like this:

I just completed my initial 75 hours of introductory training courses. Now I am looking for an opportunity to advance my career and to eventually become a competent appraiser, a process that I anticipate will take several years to accomplish. Of course, now I need to find a good appraiser to train under and to emulate as best I can, and to help me connect the dots between the abstracts they teach in the instructional courses vs the practical applications that I can only learn by doing - repeatedly. I live in Ocean County, NJ. Does anyone here have advice on a good way or place a hardworking and eager beginner can find a dedicated mentor? Thanks in advance!

Always be selling the things you think your buyers might actually want to buy.

 

[Michigan CG]

Here is how most people on here will read your post:

"I just took my 75 hours from a cheap, on-line provider that taught me to pass the easy tests and am now looking to get that minimum 1,000 hours of experience instead of going for the Certified license to that I can become your competition in less than two years at which time I will steal your clients."

 

[residentialguy]

It used to be that your company was approved...now it is by individuals. I see no advantage of taking on appraisers anymore. You need to put in as much time supervising and reviewing their work as you practically would doing it by yourself and (as Mich pointed out) they'll end up taking your clients when they get Certified and don't need you to sign for them.

 

[Salty]

These days many residential appraisers are facing more challenges than ever in order to make a living wage. Low fees, not enough work, not marketing services to non-lender clients. This makes the proposition of taking on a trainee a negative. I fall into all three categories. You need to provide a value added thing. For example, tell prospective mentors you will perform marketing services in an effort to obtain non-lender clients. I would look for a mentor who is commercial as well as residential. That way you can gain experience in commercial if you want. I feel that residential only appraisal, at least in my area, is not a viable career at this time due to over-saturation and low fees.

 

[Bob Ipock]

Hard question. Did you check around BEFORE you took the classes to see if supervisors were available? EVERY class should start out with a discussion of the realities of finding a supervisor/mentor. Students should start looking well before the first class......and looking hard as soon as classes begin.

 

[Meandering]

Call your local Diane Turton office and ask them to recommend an appraiser to you, if you’re trying to go residential, else attend your local AI meeting if you want to do commercial work

 

[KHS445]

What is your background and is there something there that you can capitalize on when talking with potential mentors? Possible experience or potential clients?

I would definitely look for a one, two or three person type shop that does mostly small commercial work and possibly some odd ball residential work. That way as a new trainee you could actually be working on the simpler straight forward assignments, which wouldn't cut into your mentors cash flow. These types of mentors will generally have cut their teeth on the simpler run of the mill assignments and have now moved on to more difficult stuff that the low ballers won't touch. They probably receive simple requests nearly everyday, but turn them down or ignore them as they can make more money specializing in the more difficult and the unusual.

The thing with the small commercial and odd ball residential shops is they are not usually under as much pressure to turn and burn an assignment and can take some time to help you thru the appraisal process and review your work. As an example the shop I am with is made up of four appraisers. Myself and my partner deal strictly with the odd ball/difficult residential (nothing that is going secondary market) and small commercial, one of the other guys works on the more difficult residential (mostly secondary market) and the fourth guy does mostly cookie cutter residential (nearly all secondary market) work. My partner and I routinely quote two week turn times, the guy working on the more difficult residential quotes in the 7 - 10 day range and the fourth guy is running like a madman completing his assignments in two to four days. While we are all busy three of the four of us would have time to work with a trainee and not throw our production schedule out of whack.

Good luck and remember you want to demonstrate to a potential mentor that you will be value added and not a cost/time burden.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

A. Quick Google Search result
B. those listed may or may NOT still be in Buz.
C. info should not be considered a personal or professional recommendation for any listed appraisers

1.
www.alamode.com/directorygenerator/New_Jersey/Appraisers_Ocean.htm
Real Estate Appraisers in Ocean County, New Jersey. Providing ... Toms River, NJ 08753, Serving Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, Union, and Essex Counties.


Ocean County New Jersey Real Estate Appraisers - Appraiser USA.com
https://appraiserusa.com/county/Search-New+Jersey-Ocean.htm
Results 1 - 20 of 114 - Ocean County New Jersey real estate appraiser listings from ... ParagonAppraisals LLC, Robert Gray, Toms River, NJ, 08753, (732) 929- ...

Real Estate Appraisers in Ocean County, New Jersey - XSites Network
https://www.xsitesnetwork.com/directory/appraisers/find/united.../ocean/default.aspx

 

[HTPA]

Thank you all for the advice!
Maybe it’s just our market here, but the problem is the appraisers I know are too busy. I know one that gets her report delivered in 24 hours. And she’s turning down work because there’s simply too much. Even the person I know who primarily does basic residentials is making around 100k a year. Someone else who does more diverse appraisals makes around 200k a year. Thing is, to learn the most, I would like to find someone who doesn’t blast through a job without giving me a chance to observe, or someone who doesn’t work in one specific are. The ideal situation would be to work with someone who works at a reasonable pace and has a diverse range. Can’t hurt to try and find a situation like that first.