Appraisal Institute - Am I being neglected?

[CGinMN]

I've never been involved with the AI so I don't have a dog in this fight. But it seems to me that the AI should be judged on what it is, not what it isn't or what it could never be.

What do any of you think ANY appraisal org or even all of the appraisal orgs combined could have done to prevent the outsourcing of appraisals to 3rd party contractors specializing in the functions that AMCs perform? Like (5 years ago) when a lender tells an appraiser "if you won't take this assignment for $200 I'll find someone else who will". And you know they mean it because they know that can indeed find someone else who will take that assignment for $200.

Once the mtg brokers got tagged as being the primary source of external influence on appraisers, sufficient to result in gross overvaluations from some of those appraisers, the result was going to end up stripping the control of the appraiser from the loan salesmen, just as had occurred in the commercial side of the business back in 1989.

At that point and in that environment what do you think the AI or (since I know you'll get there) TAF have done to suppress the rise of lenders choosing to outsource appraisals to 3rd party AMCs? What makes you think the appraisers ever had the leverage to dictate terms to their clients and tell them they couldn't outsource to AMCs?

Run me through a couple scenarios to show me the thinking behind your rationale.

I think a lot of current calls for representation come out of the race-related appraisal issues in the media. Appraisers are clamoring for someone, anyone to provide "their side" of the story.

 

[George Hatch]

True, but that's a recent development. The other criticisms (not "adequately" resisting the AMCs and the issues relating to the AIs internal politics) go back many years.

 

[Mejappz]

One of the selling points of the Appraisal Institute is Advocacy. That has been a complete and total failure, especially in the last ten years. The latest bogus "racial discrimination" is a perfect example of an out-of-touch organization. A five-year-old can figure that there is no racial bias in the industry from the start. It is purely a political play by the Marxists trying to take advantage of the current brain-dead administration.

If you want to sell books, teach courses, etc.,(i.e., be a trade organization), that's fine; just don't mislead your members into thinking you are doing or accomplishing anything to make your member's life any better.

 

[George Hatch]

The problem with advocacy is that if you get too far out over your skis and you don't stick the landing then it goes worse than if you had never opened you mouth to start with. Maintaining credibility starts with promulgating reasonable expectations, otherwise it ends up looking like Baghdad Bob. How can the profession defend itself from the allegations without the data it takes to demonstrate the point? We're in a little better spot now to do that now than we were before but not by much.

The AI is public facing, which in 2021 means they have to consider the effects of cancel culture if their talking points end up being contradicted by the data, even if only by a little. There are political forces in effect, and decision makes to make and pass laws like the one they passed in Calif which starts with the presumption of guilt. The AI and all the other groups basically HAVE to take the defensive posture and say "we need to do better". It may not be right or fair to have to plead for forgiveness but this is the IRL as it actually exists.

 

[Mejappz]

That's my point. If you can't deliver the goods, stick to what you do best and don't mislead your members into thinking you can.

 

[Fernando]

Another money making new class expected to come from AI - Cultural Awareness in Appraising.

 

[George Hatch]

That's my point. If you can't deliver the goods, stick to what you do best and don't mislead your members into thinking you can.

Out of curiosity, how do you think AIs members have been misled? What claims or assertions has the org been making that a critical thinker would actually believe but turned out to be an untruth?

AFAICT 90% of the motivation for joining and pursuing a designation is business related. People believing it's profitable to accrue the additional credentials. The additional skills and access to the library are pluses but I don't believe they're the primary draw for most of the members. The primary reason I've seen being cited for the SRAs dropping their designations have been business related (they didn't think the economic ROI was enough to justify the costs). I don't recall ever seeing comments about MAIs dropping their designations so I kinda doubt that's even a thing.

If appraisers joining a professional org for the political advocacy and lobbying was really a big motivator then the Guild would be a lot bigger than it is right now.

 

[Mejappz]

Out of curiosity, how do you think AIs members have been misled? What claims or assertions has the org been making that a critical thinker would actually believe but turned out to be an untruth?

AFAICT 90% of the motivation for joining and pursuing a designation is business related. People believing it's profitable to accrue the additional credentials. The additional skills and access to the library are pluses but I don't believe they're the primary draw for most of the members. The primary reason I've seen being cited for the SRAs dropping their designations have been business related (they didn't think the economic ROI was enough to justify the costs). I don't recall ever seeing comments about MAIs dropping their designations so I kinda doubt that's even a thing.

If appraisers joining a professional org for the political advocacy and lobbying was really a big motivator then the Guild would be a lot bigger than it is right now.

As a residential appraiser and designated member of the Appraisal Institute, I feel ignored and not represented whatsoever by the AI.

From the OP, not me. And he is not the only SRA I have heard say the same thing.

I was a member of the Appraisal Institute for six years. I joined because they were the largest and most respected Appraisal Organizations. I thought they would be leaders for their members and the entire profession. I was wrong.

The final year I was a member, they became obsessed with getting all their Associate Members designated. One reason is that they were losing membership rapidly (back in 2008). I was not opposed to becoming designated but saw no tangible results while a member and did not want to commit at the time.

They wanted you to become designated because once you are, they can strip you of your hard-earned designation if you leave. That gives them leverage over you and keeps you in place.

As for Advocacy. The AI has a section titled ‘Advocacy,” which has seven subsections ranging from National to State issues. They constantly brag about being the leader regarding what they do for their professional members.

As far as what they could do. Well, start by condemning practices of AMCs, Lenders, and the GSEs, for starters. When was the last time you heard the AI be highly critical of any of them? To solve problems, you first have to admit there is one to begin with. From 2008- 2013 the residential appraiser was being abused by AMCs (SRA chief appraisers run many), and the AI did nothing.

Finally, the numbers don’t agree with your claim that the designation drop has only been on the residential side. See the chart I posted on another thread showing a drop-off in MAI designees.

 

[Fernando]

Designations from AI were important prior to licensing. AI lost its status.
Once there was licensing, anyone could be an appraiser and with current cheapo model, lenders looking for low fee appraisers.
I admit when I started out, I lowered my fees to get business from more experienced appraisers.
How things change. Now I'm the more experienced appraiser undercut by newbies.

 

[George Hatch]

Finally, the numbers don’t agree with your claim that the designation drop has only been on the residential side. See the chart I posted on another thread showing a drop-off in MAI designees.

C'mon now. You know full well that my reference wasn't to the overall decline in membership, for which death and retirement will be contributing factors; but to MAIs dropping their designations for the same "inadequate ROI" reasons that ex-SRAs have been citing for the last 20 years.

You will also kindly note the question about "misled" that I asked. I didn't ask the question that you answered (how well do they follow through and how effective is their advocacy). I'm asking you what promises are they have been making that any significant percentage of their members have been taking literally. If a member is dumb enough to believe the hype then that's on them, whether it's the AI or any other org.

You're also validating my observation that it all boils down to the money. About the AI not pushing back on the lender's use of AMCs and the fee shopping. And on that I'll agree that you're probably right; the AI probably could have pushed back harder on those issues. It would have been a complete waste of time, of course; and their failure to achieve anything on those issues would have further damaged their credibility with the lenders, but so what?