College degree?

[Pam]

I didn't have a college degree when I started appraising, and I was a darn good appraiser. I now have an undergraduate degree and an advanced degree (neither of which are in appraising, economics, finance, etc.) and I am a much better appraiser than I once was.

College didn't teach me how to appraise. It honed my writing and analytical skills and required me to become even more self-disciplined.

If we want to be considered professionals, and to have the income and respect enjoyed by other professionals, we need to raise the standards. Just watch your income go down every time you see an "appraiser" show up at a bank president's home to appraise his/her property wearing dirty jeans and a Budweiser tank top. Watch it go down another notch when the review appraiser reads "this house has burr burr carpet" or "thier [sic]is a swimming pool" or "This was provided at you're [sic] request." It will drop again when, in answer to an ad for a "Chief Appraiser" the human resources department receives resumes from "candidates" whose prior employers are burger joints, pizza delivery organizations or house cleaning services. Those same resumes usually include the exceptional educational qualifications of high school diploma (or GED) and the bare minimum number of hours required by the state for licensing.

So, do we want to be professionals or do we want to be an alternative career opportunity for burger flippers?

 

[Farm Gal]

Folks:
I come down heavy on the side of recommending a college degree OR EQUIVALENT for new appraisers... Pam and Bob: I quite agree that focused training should be minimum requirements of ANY profession, I do however feel that such training can be acquired outside of a formal college education. Some of the newbies asking for help on this forum certainly appear to have less than stellar comunication skills, which lends one to wonder about their reason abilities!

Specific training in the areas of:
-General Logic and Reasoning
-Clarity training in conveying one's results in writing (or verbally)
-Basic and advanced mathematics
-Statistical analysis and with that detection of improper/inadequate use of numbercrunching.

IMNSHO should be required for appraisers. Challenge courses and testing for competency could take the place of a degree in (field of choice), but who would monitor such an endevour?

How many of you receive copies of an appraiser's resume on a field or desk review? I cannot think of more than one in the last year or so which was received with that addendum. I have had clients ask me to REMOVE mine :evil: from my reports. Have also observed them plcaing same in thier round files :roll:

Spelling alone in a otherwise well written report does not red-flag an appraiser's work, but is distracting. Heaven knows my fingers seem to work independantly of my intent, and I don't see my errors - thus I always, always run spellchecker on reports... Poorly written and inadequately supported reasoning definitely catches my attention and ire.... I HAVE seen 'Bur-bur' and (unfortunately) myself regularly create [sic] boo-boos such as thier, appriaser and other left hand before right typos Spelling is undoubtedly my weakest point, as I cannot see my errors once made, despite being able to spot them in other appraiser's work 8O .

Beyond the licensing requirements, what does anyone suggest as a starting point for 'what should be required'? A college level english writing proficiency test? Some sort of basic math proficiency tests? Why not suggest THOSE as starting points instead? GMAT?

Granted a GRE means basic proficiency, but what else SHOULD be required?

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

This has been very interesting and has caused my thinking to sway a little toward the degree. It would likely take very little for me to obtain a BA degree with a combination of the classes I've already taken, my life experiences and a few additional classes and tests. Can I do it? Absolutely. Do I want to? Not really.

Do we need much higher standards for entering appraising? YES!!!

My ideas on this are not new here. I believe that the initial classes need to be at least twice as long. I believe that the applicant needs to already have at least 2 years experience in Real Estate prior to taking the appraisal classes. I believe the next AT LEAST 2 years of experience needs to be with a QUALIFIED and specially licensed supervisor and that the trainee should pay for the experience training. The classes and tests need to be tougher.

Yes, we do need to raise the bar. Making a college degree mandatory might help a little. Maybe the people I've met through the years that cheated their way through to a Masters Degree have soured my thinking. I look at the individual's ethics and intelligence instead of their degree as I've seen way too many with a degree that can't speak, write or think in proper English. Statistically speaking, those with a degree normally do analyze, speak and write better than those without the degree. Leaving the standards for entering appraising the way they are is not acceptable; it's obvious it's not working.

Please excuse any grammar or puctuation errors! :lol:

 

[Pam]

I just reviewed an appraisal with the appraiser's resume attached. He listed his "Coarse Descriptions."

No college degree, by the way.

 

[bobburnitt]

To Pam, Lee Ann, and Pamela,

I am glad to see we are on the 'same side' on this one. Obviously, I feel strongly about the issue. Never thought raising the bar would meet such resistance, although I must say that quite a bit of food for thought has been thrown my way.

It is time for me to drop the subject, for now that is. I have stated my view and tried to defend it the best I know how, this issue is something I feel strongly about. To go on would be more than redundant. The opposing views have been interesting and enlightening. It is my hope that more and more people in this trade will lobby for higher education for appraisers, it couldn't hurt the business a bit.

BB in Texas