Do It By Myself Or Not?

[Digger88]

Since you are not bringing in orders, you are dependent on your boss to give you work. You could try to negotiate a fee split, say 75% of the fee if you do all the work, for example.

75 FREAKING % FOR A NOOB!!! you must be freaking drunk bro! hes being paid what id assume is a pretty low hourly wage (never heard of that, btw) probably be lucky to get 40% but go for it young buck.

 

[Joe Flacco]

I think only shops that charge like less than $400 base would have a fee split 75%. The appraisers at my mentors company all got 55%.

 

[Jim2014]

Perhaps work out something with present boss where you work for them on a fee per order basis, and are free to get side work, or stay with them/any side work you bring in you get a higher split...or a part time job. Sorry it is so hard right now. FWIW, (unless you plan on getting a general/commercial license) FWIW California sounds like an extremely difficult place to be a res appraiser...unless one is established, an SRA able to get in with banks , or a great schoozer with RE agents. I have a good friend who appraises in san Diego, like so many she lost direct clients after HVCC, she had some good years after but the last 3 barely able to eke out a living. If I were younger and living there and had any options I'd look to move to a different state with more work and or better fees ( she tells me res fees have dropped there as well which is a terrible double whammy considering living costs there ). You might want to use the time to see if moving is an option...if not, get a strategy for bringing in clients, go for the SRA so you can set yourself apart, something...AMC;s pay little there from what she tells me though some works is better than nothing....best of luck try networking with RE agents.

I wonder which state/district with more work and better fees. I guess appraiser in SF bay is over supply.

 

[Jim2014]

75 FREAKING % FOR A NOOB!!! you must be freaking drunk bro! hes being paid what id assume is a pretty low hourly wage (never heard of that, btw) probably be lucky to get 40% but go for it young buck.

Right, I am only with 6 years experience of appraisal, and less than a year certified, compare with most of appraisers, I am just a beginner. However, within these years, I've done thousands of reports( right, I earned so much for my boss), and now I basically do everything by myself. So, 40% seems too low.

 

[Jim2014]

Thanks for everyone's reply.
I did get a raise after certified, but not much, and now I need to use my own car.
I get paid hourly, not employee, but 1099 tax form. My boss is a smart person, his priority is making money for himself first.
I don't know how long I can do this anymore, and if I quit, I don't know what else I can do after spending so many years to get the license. Anyway, I will keep doing what I am doing now, and try to work something out too.

 

[Carnivore]

Or find an SRA that specializes in litigation or some other specialty (high-end homes, etc.) to train under. I would look up all the SRA's within a 20-mile radius and get on the phone. Explain your position and tell them that you are willing to work. You will have a new job and potentially a new path in your career.

Don't give up, the good appraisers are looking for people. You just need to find the right person!

Excellent Advice. Could not agree with you more. Myself, when I entered the Appraisal Profession AI was not a happy merged group of Commercial/residential licenses.
They were a closed society essentially. Getting info about them was was tough.

I came from the world of Commercial Aviation except I was military but held Commercial Certifications and my experience was high. Really High! I look back and probably should have stayed in Aviation. I did not because I was tired of it. Frankly the joy of it was gone. Its a lot of work and requires a high level of professionalism and it can and does require you to be away from home on holidays or just weekends. You could say I was burn out a little.

So take MP_MAI advice you will not regret it years down the road from now. Seriously! The appraisal work is really interesting and challenging. Residential lending work is boring, low pay and you deal with a lot of idiots!

 

[J Grant]

I wonder which state/district with more work and better fees. I guess appraiser in SF bay is over supply.

Colorado, Oregon Washington were getting good fees per many...don't know if that has changed in this slow period but those states are reported to have fewer appraisers.
Call the clients, ask where they are light on coverage and need it. If a number of them tell you the same thing, then you have an answer

To break out of a low wage/exploitation pattern you have to look for, or create, better opportunities...which might mean train for commercial with a firm, go for the SRA, and/or move to an under served area either in CA or out of CA where clients need appraisers. If you call AMC;s and banks and say you would consider moving to an area where appraisers are needed, where do they need coverage? They will be on it like fleas...because there are areas either rural or on edge of a "bad" neighborhood ( who cares if the money is good from fees ) where they desperately need appraisers. I know of 2 such areas near me in FL, I am too settled in here ( and old ) to move to them

I did what am advising you to do when I started out...I moved 2 counties north of my former supervisor so I would not compete with them for work. I called banks and told them I would do their REO work where they needed it done. Most appraisers want the nice clean pretty work so I was very busy doing ugly appraisals ( a good learning experience) once I got on their list they used me for other work.

Things have changed now and seems there is a growing need for appraisers to do desktop reports and not many want to do them because of low pay ( aprox $75 ) but if one found a client willing to assign a certain # of them could be at least some $. You need to be calling AMC' s and lenders and emailing them, ask them what products they need help with what areas in the state or out of state nearby they need help with, get a picture from that. A few of them might drop an assignment on you right away or like your trying to help attitude and put you on their list.

 

[chad hampton]

Thanks for everyone's reply.
I did get a raise after certified, but not much, and now I need to use my own car.
I get paid hourly, not employee, but 1099 tax form. My boss is a smart person, his priority is making money for himself first.
I don't know how long I can do this anymore, and if I quit, I don't know what else I can do after spending so many years to get the license. Anyway, I will keep doing what I am doing now, and try to work something out too.

If that's his #1 priority, then it should be yours as well. Sometimes employees are loyal to a fault. If he's a stand up guy, he will come to an agreement that makes you both happy. If that can't happen, then he should shake your hand and say thanks and wish you well. If he's the kind of guy that gives you sh*t and acts like a jerk, then he wasn't a guy worth working for anyway.

I assume you are a residential appraiser? Why not call up the AMC's you are doing work for and try to get on their list on your own? Unless things have changed, you are already on their list, it isn't the company that gets approved, it's the individual appraiser.

I had an interview many years ago, in my previous life as an engineer - I had a good conversation with the owner of the firm. We got into loyalty, etc. He told me that when you hire someone and agree to pay them, you pay them for work they do. So at the end of every payday, the both of you are even. He owes you nothing else and you owe the company nothing else. Don't think that you owe a company anything more than that. Because trust me, a business will drop you like a rock anytime they want. Loyalty only seems to be expected from 1 side in todays world of business.

As a certified appraiser doing all the work, I wouldn't work for anyone for less than 75% fee split. I was making 75% as a trainee back in the early 2000's. Of course things were different then - I had to go out and get all my own clients (which you could do as a trainee back then). So the day I became certified, I had own business.

Then the AMCs took my business, and I had to start over again. lol

 

[Salty]

After a certain length of time, if you are not successful, don't let the thought of your sunk costs stop you from moving on to something new. Before you know it, your highest earning years will be passing you by while you could have been making more managing a McDonalds.

 

[TRESinc]

To break out of a low wage/exploitation pattern you have to look for, or create, better opportunities...which might mean train for commercial with a firm, go for the SRA, and/or move to an under served area either in CA or out of CA where clients need appraisers. If you call AMC;s and banks and say you would consider moving to an area where appraisers are needed, where do they need coverage? They will be on it like fleas...because there are areas either rural or on edge of a "bad" neighborhood ( who cares if the money is good from fees ) where they desperately need appraisers.

i would not heed this advice. you are barely licensed and don't even really know the market that you have been training in (see comment below) so there is no good reason to offer to move, possibly out of the state (TERRIBLE IDEA!), and start from scratch learning an entirely new market especially at this time when orders are slow to nothing. it takes time to become competent enough in an area to perform appraisals. jgrant herself has posted countless times about appraisers coming in from other areas and how bad the results are, and now she wants you to perpetuate that problem. think about what it would entail to move to a new area (not only in time spent but actual monetary costs), learn that area and competently perform appraisals there - that is no easy or fast proposition. on top of that everywhere is slow, or slowing, right now across the country when it comes to appraisal volume. now is not the best time to strike out on your own.

Right, I am only with 6 years experience of appraisal, and less than a year certified, compare with most of appraisers, I am just a beginner. However, within these years, I've done thousands of reports( right, I earned so much for my boss), and now I basically do everything by myself. So, 40% seems too low.

in the eyes of your potential clients you have less than 1 year of experience. every residential lending client i have ever had requires a minimum of 5 years experience as a licensed appraiser. the time spent as a trainee does not count, and rightly so, because it takes you at least 5 years to learn you don't really know a lot after getting your license. you may think you have earned a lot for your boss but look at what you received in return - entry into a profession that you can do full time or part time for the rest of your life and have a decent income. give a man a fish....

also based on your posts it seems as if english may not be your first language, so you may want top brush up on that. a report with broken english will not be well received and makes it harder to convey your ideas and methodologies.

CA registers AMCs. you can search them out online. if you are really done working for your current boss then find AMCs who do business in the areas you are familiar with and start there. keep in mind you may not qualify for a lot of them due to being licensed for less than a year, but we all have to start somewhere.