I'm not sure how you could take the CEA class, and then take the intro class and feel overwhelmed. I've seen the curriculum for the intro class and I have taken the CEA class, and unless you fell asleep for the CEA class there is no way the intro class would be anything but a brochure for the CEA class. Now the CEA class, that was a good course. I agree with Stone could be a day or two shorter.
I took the class while I was writing the Crown Jewel of my career, it was a conservation easement on a historic restaurant, that basically they were preserving the restaurant by placing an easement on the land. Thus eliminating the incentive to tear down the property. Anyhow the owner and several of his family members owned several pieces of land on the peninsula (the market area). They also owned a piece of land adjacent to the site that was not be encumbered. To make it even more complicated he had the site approved for condominiums, site plan and everything, and the public was in a state of backlash over it. So it had a lot of moving parts to say the least. That project took me 4 months, I had Quid pro quo agreements from the owner and all his relatives, site plans, proposed site plans, and use by right letters from the township. I mapped all the properties the owners and family members owned to show there was no vicarious benefit to those properties for the easement. I also had every conservation easement, PDR, and private deed restriction in the surrounding 100 miles of the subject.
I also do Yellow Book Reviews for the Fed's, I can tell you that most appraisers couldn't Yellow Book appraise to save their life. I have also seen that many appraisers do appraisals for private owners, and have no idea that they are going to be used for Federal purposes (usually because they do not ask during the engagement process). Typically the local community has already millions of dollars on these properties, and were counting on the Fed's for reimbursement. If the appraisal gets rejected, the Fed's do not pay, leaving the local community in a bad position. Guess what happens to those appraisers....usually when I speak with them, they have no idea of Yellow Book or CEA techniques. 9 times out of 10, if the appraiser knew those techniques the market value would have been supported better, and it would not have been rejected. However there is always the guy that has no business appraising it in the first place, CEA class and Yellow Book aside. As I said in my earlier post, there is a lot riding on these appraisals, and unless you know what you are doing you should stay away or got to extreme ends to become competent. Take the CEA Class, take the Yellow Book course, mentor with someone who does these and has a proven track record of making it through audit and/or review. Many people say they can do these, but unless they have a track record they might not be the best mentor.
