Appraisal Training/paid Mentorship

[Prufrock]

Hello, I am a residential appraiser working out of Boston. I have been in business for about 10 years.
I want to learn commercial appraising and to that effect I have been taking classes and will complete most of the commercial classes required by the end of this year. I have learned and familiarized myself income capitalization techniques but I lack the actual application and training required.

I was wondering if there was anyone here who would be interested in a teaching a potential trainee? I understand it is very difficult to find a mentor for prospective commercial trainees.

I should note that I am willing pay to receive the training I will need to learn. I am willing to receive training remotely if travel is an issue. I would also gladly welcome any advice from the general appraisers here as well.

 

[kiritf]

If you want to make the transition, definitely take every course you can take for your CG license and then take every AI course you can on the MAI path while your searching for a position is the way to go. You're starting over again, which is great. Seek out some companies that are local to you after you have a firm base of classes. I'd recommend a good CV with all the applicable coursework you've done for the transition. If a company has a good system in place, there's plenty a trainee can do to "earn your keep" while you're getting experience.

Being in Boston, you've got all of the big hitters in town, which can be good options to get your experience.

 

[tsiegel]

Let me know if you decide to move to Maine.

 

[Prufrock]

Let me know if you decide to move to Maine.

Thank you very much for your response! I am very grateful that you expressed an interest in training me.

I can certainly move to Maine in order to receive the training or if you prefer, I also willing to work remotely, whichever option you think would be best.

I can also work in Boston for you if you want to expand your service area and I would be willing to do this for free during the training.

Please do let me know what your thoughts are and once again, I am truly very thankful to you.

 

[Michael P Jacobs MAI]

Hello, I am a residential appraiser working out of Boston. I have been in business for about 10 years. I want to learn commercial...

I also made the shift after owning a residential practice 10 years. You are guaranteed success if you can get into the door at CBRE and/or C&W. You'll probably have to work for almost nothing a year to prove your earnestness and pay for their training, but you will see every property type, gain exposure to every buyer-profile, and learn to get it out the door on time without any excuses. You will excel if you can swallow your ego and do it their way (follow the template) and learn from every review comment. Master the technology they use as quickly as you can. It'll be a quick year, I promise. There is a lot of corporate BS but also some of the best people in the industry. If it isn't for you, you can eventually go your own way much better off for the experience. I love being independent but could not have made such a successful transition from residential without them. Good luck!

 

[PL1957]

I also made the shift after owning a residential practice 10 years. You are guaranteed success if you can get into the door at CBRE and/or C&W. You'll probably have to work for almost nothing a year to prove your earnestness and pay for their training, but you will see every property type, gain exposure to every buyer-profile, and learn to get it out the door on time without any excuses. You will excel if you can swallow your ego and do it their way (follow the template) and learn from every review comment. Master the technology they use as quickly as you can. It'll be a quick year, I promise. There is a lot of corporate BS but also some of the best people in the industry. If it isn't for you, you can eventually go your own way much better off for the experience. I love being independent but could not have made such a successful transition from residential without them. Good luck!

The above is pretty spot on, except no major firm will ever make you pay for your training, unless you consider the opportunity cost of lost wages. You will make less as a commercial appraiser than you did on the residential side for at least a couple of years. All the major firms will pay for classes, licensing and designation costs.

 

[Michael P Jacobs MAI]

The above is pretty spot on, except no major firm will ever make you pay for your training, unless you consider the opportunity cost of lost wages. You will make less as a commercial appraiser than you did on the residential side for at least a couple of years. All the major firms will pay for classes, licensing and designation costs.

Just one more thing - the other "national" (non-brokerage) firms are less preferable for new commercial appraisers. The dominant brokerage mindset is probably as important to understand as anything else, and this is lacking at IRR and most of the higher-profile regional or local firms. If you haven't transacted commercial real estate yourself the next best thing is to get to know some seasoned brokers, and they'll be down the hallway at CBRE and C&W. Their aggressive pursuit of the deal, professionalism and client-focus filters through to the appraisal department. The IRR-model is still "looking-in" to the industry from the outside, although you'll see some investment-grade deals. You won't always like what you see anywhere - all of the national firms have issues. But, you can go 10 years into a commercial appraisal career and never get exposure to everything you'll see at a national firm in six months.

 

[Gobears81]

You will make less as a commercial appraiser than you did on the residential side for at least a couple of years.

That might be true in some cases, but maybe not all. We recently hired a residential trainee, and his split/ compensation package seemed to be more than generous, but to start, he has averaged a quite low hourly wage. It is good that he is focusing on quality, rather than efficiency, though.

I took a pay cut to become a trainee appraiser in 2006 and it wasn't until the past 3-4 years that I've finally received something close to "market rate". There is a family element to the business that affected the dynamic, but even so, I realized in the back of my mind that at the end of the day, I was still a lightweight appraiser early on: my reports needed thorough screening, none of the work that came to the office was generated by me personally, and I was still getting my arms wrapped around appraisal principles. Even if appraisers can make money for the company early on in their career (though they don't seem to make much for the company extremely early on), I look at that 5 - 7 year mark as when appraisers on the commercial side really start to transition to an asset for the company. Everyone's career undoubtedly unfolds at a different trajectory, but that is a challenging issue for recruitment to the profession, as there is no guarantee that you will in fact make more in 5 - 7-years than the store manager hired out of college who gets a higher initial salary, but typically lower pay increases.

 

[Valuadora]

I would also like to add information on training and transitioning to commercial/non-residential work. I work for a County - in the Real Estate Services Department.
We don't do assessment/ad valorem appraisals - we perform the real estate functions for other County departments, such as when they buy, sell, or transfer property. Some of the work is in the eminent domain arena, but often it involves voluntary acquisition of private property for public purposes. We have appraisers on staff who perform valuation products for each of these transactions and also hire appraisers as contractors. We require a certified general license to prepare this work, though it is not always necessary, but because of the "appraiser shortage" have been considering training a residential or unlicensed appraiser to bring them through certification. Look for opportunities in your local Counties.
Nancy

 

[Eli]

OP, you have gotten good advice here. The remote option is dreaming imo. Notice no takers on that option.