AQB Update On Proposed Changes To Appraiser Qualifications

[djd09]

Danny Wiley was the Chief from 01 - 03. He should be able to answer this question.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

If there was no evidence of there having been MANY good appraisers who never stepped foot in a college classroom then maybe you could make that argument. But the history is what it is and it's a little late to attempt the rewrite.

The issue was that there were many appraisers with no college education that couldn't appraise themselves out of a box. Quite frankly, I was living in a bubble until I started doing reviews. I had no idea how bad it was.

IRL, newspapers are supposedly written with the 9th grade reading level;

That's because they're written to a target audience, and gear the writing level to that audience. The average news writer and copy editor obviously can read/write with a much greater degree of sophistication.

The idea that someone who can pass an appraisal exam is incapable of learning how to write a reasonable appraisal report without going to a 4yr college program is simply not supported by the facts.

That's not the point of a college degree. An argument can be made for any level of education. I could argue that no appraisal course work is needed at all, by the fact I actually passed a college-level appraisal exam in 7th grade. My appraisal knowledge at that point simply came from being on a few appointments with dad at that time, and from what he said around the house.

 

[J Grant]

The stated purpose of appraiser licensing was to protect the public's interests. It was not to advance our economic interests or our social standing. That's (arguably) what the professional orgs are for.

If there was no evidence of there having been MANY good appraisers who never stepped foot in a college classroom then maybe you could make that argument. But the history is what it is and it's a little late to attempt the rewrite.

IRL, newspapers are supposedly written with the 9th grade reading level; police reports are done at the 11th grade reading level. The idea that someone who can pass an appraisal exam is incapable of learning how to write a reasonable appraisal report without going to a 4yr college program is simply not supported by the facts.

Just because there are a lot of lazy appraisers who were never held to the requirement to write in complete sentences and that "report writing" on the truncated Fannie forms has traditionally tolerated a sparse brevity in favor of the traditional syntax we would use when writing in longhand doesn't necessarily speak to those people being *incapable* of writing a coherent sentence, but rather they have never been compelled to do it in an appraisal report. I doubt many people would argue the point that churn-n-burn has most definitely been of effect on writing performance.

The problem is, while there are MANY good appraisers who never stepped foot in a college classroom, there are also MANY bad appraiser who never stepped foot in a college classroom. Among them a segment so dense and clueless they would never make it in any other profession where their competition was better vetted.

I trained with one of them. Sweet kid ( he was 19 at the time ) but dumb as a rock. He had a GED, lived at home with parents and could not even balance a checkbook- they did it for him. Once when he was doing an ocean view condo appraisal, he asked if it was the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean. No joke, he truly did not know.

When I did field reviews while recognizing it is the problem appraisals that reach a field review stage, the stupidity, as David Wimpleberg stated , in some of them was incredible.

The bad apples who don't belong in the field flourished during mortgage broker pressure days if they agreed to number hit, and they flourish now if they work cheap and fast for an AMC or appraisal mill such as Forshtyhe/ Metro West. Enough, it has to stop somewhere.

While a college degree requirement can't prevent a dishonest person from entering the profession, at least it can prevent the stupidest from entering. A person over faced by the challenges of appraising is easily manipulated by a client or aggressive RE agent and can inadvertently end up on the wrong side of ethics. I believe that was behind a lot of the bad work done during the boom. .

 

[George Hatch]

All I'm saying is that there is evidence of successful appraisers with no college background, and there's no indication that they're the exception to the rule.

We're trying to make decisions without a clear picture of the facts. That fact alone should slow our roll.

 

[J Grant]

All I'm saying is that there is evidence of successful appraisers with no college background, and there's no indication that they're the exception to the rule.
We're trying to make decisions without a clear picture of the facts. That fact alone should slow our roll.

That is a very weak reason to "slow our roll", and rolling back the college degree and other requirements will hurt the profession. Anyone without a college degree who is licensed is grandfathered in.

Yes, there is evidence of successful appraisers with no college background, and there's no indication that they're the exception to the rule. But there is also evidence of really bad appraises without a college background and there's no indication they're the exception to the rule either.

While one can claim there are incompetent appraisers with a college degree, imo they would be the exception to the rule. Every appraiser with a college degree I've interacted with, in person /seen work from or here on the board, whether the degree was earned early or later in life, they are astute and aware of the issues around appraising. That is not to take away from anyone without a degree who is astute and aware.

I believe your position, though sincere, is harmful to the profession. I hope it does not come to pass.

 

[Ken Masla]

low evidence of reasoning or filled with childish name calling, I'd bet $ they are not posted from college grads.

I actually laughed at this. Thank you.

 

[J Grant]

Your posts where you bash educated people speak for themselves, as do your posts where you try to address appraisal concepts while knowing nothing about it ( meanwhile we have no idea what you do ) A walking advertisement for why screening is needed- a degree may not be a perfect screening but it would at least put appraising on a par with other professions.

 

[djd09]

other professions.

Like realtors.

 

[Ken Masla]

Your posts where you bash educated people speak for themselves, as do your posts where you try to address appraisal concepts while knowing nothing about it ( meanwhile we have no idea what you do ) A walking advertisement for why screening is needed- a degree may not be a perfect screening but it would at least put appraising on a par with other professions.

I didn't bash "educated" people. I have lots of respect for people who are educated and are knowledgeable.

If you know how to read and have reasoning skills like you claim, what I have a problem with are kids who go to college, learn nothing and expect people to conform to their views. There is a big difference in the 2 and the fact that you say I bash educated people shows poor reasoning on your part.

In another show of poor reasoning on your part, you claim I know nothing about appraisal concepts. Can you show me where and when I show that I know "nothing" about appraisal concepts? Direct quote within context?

You are a walking advertisement for why a degree is not good screening. Just because you went to college and paid for a degree doesn't automatically put you above other people who didn't see the value in doing so. You have poor reasoning and you call people names.

 

[J Grant]

People have asked you repeatedly what you do and you never answered. You asked me to explain appraising to you in an older thread. I am not above other people who disagree with me on the education issue, but the fact that appraising without a degree requirement for decades has suffered so many severe problems not experienced with professions with a degree requirement speaks for itself.