Commercial appraisers should be selling commercial real estate too

[Stone]

Yeah.. not necessary.

Just might as well have it. You sell one house for $500k and that will cover the cost of maintaining a license for like five years. Have to have it to at least do your own deals.

Like I wrote earlier in this thread, I want nothing to do with a sales job. Same holds true for many other commercial appraisers I know (most who who have more traditional practices than mine). They share a product, but aren’t the same. Good for anyone who wants to do both, but I didn’t get into this field to sell. Zero desire to spend any time on that.

There’s no “should” about it. Some want that and good for them. If I wanted to do something related to my field I would have bought land years ago. That’s closer to something I should have done, IMO. But once I purchased a seasonal home, I lost any desire to screw around with investing that way, either. Appraisal is a job, not something I want to spend extra free time on.

 

[George Hatch]

Selling is about people. Appraising is about things. Some people can do both, some can't.

 

[Alamo Cowboy]

My wife was a CPA when I became an appraiser is the 80s. She additionally became a RE Broker when I told her I was having difficulty gaining info from our local RE Board. She looked at the requirements of the time, met the criteria and passed the broker test on the 1st try. There was no waiting period nor mentorship requirements at that time. She was my source of commercial & residential MLS info for about 10 yrs till it became publicly available to appraisers in the 90s. I secured the MLS books/microfiche every month/quarter/year from the local MLS under her name. She also was my advisor for municipal bids and testing the reasonableness of my commercial narrative conclusions. We made a good team from my point of view. Unlike a CG appraiser securing a commercial RE license my system worked for me doing commercial assignments. My wife wasn't an active commercial/residential broker (name/license only) we bought & sold many properties with her license over the years. Very profitable. My wife was more "people"/detailed orientated than me. I was more marketing & detail driven.

 

[Michael S]

About a year after I left my appraisal job, I got a check in the mail for $2,500. It was a referral for when I introduced a private client on an appraisal assignment to a broker in my office for a large vacant office building in a small market. The broker ended up getting the listing and about a year later sold it.

I let me appraisal license lapse a few years ago. Maybe I should spend the few bucks to get a brokerage license and hang up my shingle. Even a single small deal in a year would be a five-figure commission. Even though I've been out of the game for a few years I could still easily pull together enough data to come up with a reasonable listing price. Now I've been on the other side (buying a business and leasing commercial real estate).

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Sucks to be an appraiser.

No, it sucks to not have any work or income. I had to take my mandatory distribution from my IRA and got the check today. But it still helps to work some. And my book royalties can in - not much but every little bit helps.

publicly available to appraisers in the 90s.

You have to be an old timer to remember when joining the Board as an appraiser was difficult - often impossible. When we finally got access to the old DOS based MLS on line, wow...$5 a month. I didn't stay with a Missouri license because you had about 5 boards to join and had to be sponsored by a broker...wasn't worth it.