AQB's latest dumbing down by 'Stakeholders' Dropping the College Degree Requirement

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Well, it should be!
You often talk about donkeys in appraising - and comment that they might be teachable - IMO, they are not teachable, and there should not be "donkeys" appraising what amounts to a hundred million or more a year in property that is tax payer-backed loans.

I realize you depsie the idea of anything that would protect the appriasers fee, but decent fees are needed to attract and keep quality people in a profession. WTF does it have to do with the US govt? Many fields have college as the entry barrier, and yes, it does keep the supply down, by eliminating the idiots ...and yes it also tends to elevate fees or pay in many professions -

wret govt and fee protection, the govt reg serves to protect the free of cost AMC service to lenders and the corrupt second version of C And R where AMCs can use their own surveys- you only seem to object where any govt policies serve to protect the appraiser fee- there is no neutral gove policy, it protects one set of parties at the expense of another.

How many appraisers have entered this field in the past 5-10 years? Do we really need barriers for a job not in demand?

 

[J Grant]

I will submit my comments to the AQB this weekend; thank you for the reminder- DW.

 

[George Hatch]

I'm guessing the first point is being targeted for diminishment and the second has been removed by PAREA.

I'm in at least partial agreement with this (we'll have to see what comes of the QE).

As for competition control, I'll be the first to admit that I have personally benefitted from the point that it's a little harder than average to pass the courses, pass the exam and accrue the non-residential experience required to earn a CG. Not everyone has what it takes as demonstrated by the failure rates, and those who can't do it will be left behind. But those QE and experience criteria are at least related to what it takes to become minimally competent on this side of the business. Taking courses on religion or history or social sciences or in any of the humanities or even STEM will not touch upon anything I've ever done as an appraiser.

The track records of the legion vast of HS-educated appraisers stand as proof that the analytical and critical thinking skills it takes to appraise are obviously not that difficult to attain outside of the college experience.

Denis DeSaix (and dozens of other Forum members over the years) was never an incompetent at what he was doing or a threat to the RE economy or a stain on our profession prior to earning his 4yr degree and his MAI and I will fight with anyone who says otherwise.

 

[Surf Cat]

I'll bet the donkeys in Tijuana make more money than the appraisers do....

 

[J Grant]

I'm in at least partial agreement with this (we'll have to see what comes of the QE).

As for competition control, I'll be the first to admit that I have personally benefitted from the point that it's hard to pass the courses, pass the exam and accrue the non-residential experience required to earn a CG. But those criteria are at least related to what it takes to become minimally competent on this side of the business. Taking courses on religion or history or social sciences or in any of the humanities or even STEM isn't going to touch upon anything I've ever done as an appraiser.

The existence of the legion vast of HS-educated appraisers stand as proof that the critical thinking skills it takes to appraise are obviously not that difficult to attain outside of the college experience.

Imo there are too manhy incompetent HS- educated appraisers (or very dumb college grads since it is not possible to know who is who ) I just doubt most of the dense managed to finish college - the legions of appraisers unable to apply critical thinking are evident with post after post here asking the most basic questions about HBU, unable to understand excess vs surplus land or how to apply it , etc - and these are the folks who show up to ask - how many are just screwing it up without asking - we see appraisers thinking price values, or that we are predicting a sale price etc -

All of us can benefit from courses in religion or the humanities since it broaden the scope of our thinking and allows us to see both sides and not just one side of a problem or solution or viewpoint - there is a reason so many diverse fields require college degrees, not just specialized skill set but degrees that also include humanities, history etc, including the military, which requires a college degree to become a commissioned officer over NCO sergeant level.

 

[TerryRohrer]

Well, it should be!
You often talk about donkeys in appraising - and comment that they might be teachable - IMO, they are not teachable, and there should not be "donkeys" appraising what amounts to a hundred million or more a year in property that is tax payer-backed loans.

I realize you depsie the idea of anything that would protect the appriasers fee, but decent fees are needed to attract and keep quality people in a profession. WTF does it have to do with the US govt? Many fields have college as the entry barrier, and yes, it does keep the supply down, by eliminating the idiots ...and yes it also tends to elevate fees or pay in many professions -

wret govt and fee protection, the govt reg serves to protect the free of cost AMC service to lenders and the corrupt second version of C And R where AMCs can use their own surveys- you only seem to object where any govt policies serve to protect the appraiser fee- there is no neutral gove policy, it protects one set of parties at the expense of another.

It is not like we don't all see examples of extreme incompetence, laziness, and activism in appraisals with the current "barriers" in place. Imagine where we go when all barriers are effectively removed!

 

[J Grant]

There are of course a number of very intelligent and competent HS grad-only appraisers - they would be grandfathered in of course -

Imo the college degree req may not make it anyway - those who are not speaking out for it - - as they say be careful what you wish for -

 

[J Grant]

It is not like we don't all see examples of extreme incompetence, laziness, and activism in appraisals with the current "barriers" in place. Imagine where we go when all barriers are effectively removed!

It's a self defeating Darwinian selection of survival of the dumbest because they can charge less, take shortcuts, and with all the software avail now, they happily can data dump and sign -imo there will still be a niche for the truly competent but it will shrink and contract over time -

 

[TerryRohrer]

How many appraisers have entered this field in the past 5-10 years? Do we really need barriers for a job not in demand?

So end regulation of appraisers, then. Why the pretense? The minimum minimum qualification is none. We are so damned near that now that there is no appreciable difference. Anyone who can't become a residential appraiser now can't function well enough to tie their own shoes.

 

[George Hatch]

Imo there are too manhy incompetent HS- educated appraisers (or very dumb college grads since it is not possible to know who is who ) I just doubt most of the dense managed to finish college - the legions of appraisers unable to apply critical thinking are evident with post after post here asking the most basic questions about HBU, unable to understand excess vs surplus land or how to apply it , etc - and these are the folks who show up to ask - how many are just screwing it up without asking - we see appraisers thinking price values, or that we are predicting a sale price etc -

All of us can benefit from courses in religion or the humanities since it broaden the scope of our thinking and allows us to see both sides and not just one side of a problem or solution or viewpoint - there is a reason so many diverse fields require college degrees, not just specialized skill set but degrees that also include humanities, history etc, including the military, which requires a college degree to become a commissioned officer over NCO sergeant level.

A few points of order

1- you can't tell which is which between the HS and college educated.​

2- you're using college as a filter for dense and lack of critical thinking skills​

3- you're citing examples of appraisers running into atypical situations and asking for help as a blanket accusation of incompetence​

4- most of what you know about those examples you learned on this forum, which by extension means you also didn't know before you came here.​

​

and lastly​

5 - I never complain about appraisers being unqualified to do the job. My primary "competency" complaint about appraisers is that some of them don't work to their own capabilities (that includes some of the CGs). You're the one who is denigrating some appraisers as being incapable of performing to specs.​