Does Minimum Wage Increase Help Or Hurt The Appraisal Business?

[Terrel L. Shields]

Your baler posts are akin to DTB saying the introduction of hybrid appraisals impacted his appraisal business....

And then having DTB later say he got out of the appraisal business 5 years before hybrid appraisals were introduced to the industry....

I don't follow your logic. My point is technology reacts to costs of labor. When possible the employer substitutes expensive labor with labor savings devices. Where does the hybrid make such savings? So far it hasn't proven it can? It has divided labor but the savings is not readily apparent...in fact, may be unlikely.

Appraisers have done an incredible job of embracing technology. I've seen hand written green forms, typed, and struggled with laser printers that shelled out a whole two pages per minute, and fees when I started were $300, went to $325 in the late 90s, a fee that stayed stagnate for 15 yr. But we've reached a practical limit. Only incremental increases in production are available. We can work at computer speed only by using the joke called "artificial intelligence" which removes real heuristic judgment. AI is machine learning, nothing more, as Forbes recently noted,

The point, as various experts explain in my article, is to understand what A.I. can do—discrete tasks its designers have trained it to learn to do—and what it can’t, just about anything that requires the human qualities of nuance, empathy, or wisdom.
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The Bakken experience indicated menu items increased 40% but the restaurant also mechanized with kiosk ordering and reducing staff which cut labor costs. Likewise (as I pointed out) they closed the dining room. No tables to bus, no floors to mop. They cut labor.

 

[Carnivore]

I don't follow your logic. My point is technology reacts to costs of labor. When possible the employer substitutes expensive labor with labor savings devices. Where does the hybrid make such savings? So far it hasn't proven it can? It has divided labor but the savings is not readily apparent...in fact, may be unlikely.

Appraisers have done an incredible job of embracing technology. I've seen hand written green forms, typed, and struggled with laser printers that shelled out a whole two pages per minute, and fees when I started were $300, went to $325 in the late 90s, a fee that stayed stagnate for 15 yr. But we've reached a practical limit. Only incremental increases in production are available. We can work at computer speed only by using the joke called "artificial intelligence" which removes real heuristic judgment. AI is machine learning, nothing more, as Forbes recently noted,

Excellent statement and Point in bold above.I have alluded to this in other post. When an appraiser is sent out to do a final I imagine most were charging anywhere from $100-$150. per final/trip fee. If you take the $450 fee minus the $150 trip fee leaves the Deskwork Fee of $300. This is what the Desktop/Bifur Fee should be. The savings in separating the two and is limited to only the inspection part This is where Harry Comes in, and they pay him $25-$50 bucks because that is just semi-skilled labor. Even part of that fee is for driving expenses. Now you cant really decrease this amount very much because ala carte is always more expensive than a full dinner.because there is added management fee of the inspector by the AMC.

So the only real advantage and savings in the desktop/bifur is Time and some decrease in the cost of the inspector an unlicensed person who has to managed. There is no saving on the appraiser side, NONE! How can there be? are they going to penalize us for being more efficient with our time?

This is like asking an attorney to charge less, simply because he uses a para-legal for leg work instead of doing it himself.

So to conclude: Its our efficiency to exploit, NOT the Lender/client. Where a lower fee could come from the appraiser is by force of his competition charging less. They have skewed this by using Harry instead of us using a Trainee.

 

[bnmappraisal]

Do you think raising minimum wages have prompted McDonald's to replace some workers with automated ordering kiosks?

I'm just answering for myself here but ... short answer YES

I took this in Jan when we took the kids to Legoland, FL (near Winter Haven, FL) at a McD's just before getting to the park. We stopped to grab the kids some breakfast

I was shocked to see everything being ordered from a kiosk (see 1st pic) or the drive through and NOBODY behind the counter (see 2nd pic)

There were some workers out on the floor but, surprisingly to me, they were either cleaning/clearing off the tables or helping customers place their own orders via the kiosks

Personally I thought it was ridiculous. As a comedian I like (Bill Burr) once said "I'm giving you 100% of the money to make 100% of the sandwich!"
To me that's applicable to this. I'm giving you 100% of my money ... why am I having to place the order?!

 

[J Grant]

I'm just answering for myself here but ... short answer YES

I took this in Jan when we took the kids to Legoland, FL (near Winter Haven, FL) at a McD's just before getting to the park. We stopped to grab the kids some breakfast
I was shocked to see everything being ordered from a kiosk (see 1st pic) or the drive through and NOBODY behind the counter (see 2nd pic)
There were some workers out on the floor but, surprisingly to me, they were either cleaning/clearing off the tables or helping customers place their own orders via the kiosks
Personally I thought it was ridiculous. As a comedian I like (Bill Burr) once said "I'm giving you 100% of the money to make 100% of the sandwich!"
To me that's applicable to this. I'm giving you 100% of my money ... why am I having to place the order?!

Creepy! If automation exists businesses will use when they can to reduce costs, no matter what a min wage is. Nobody has to go to MCD's ...just saying,

 

[Carnivore]

One thing I noticed about Mickey'D's is there menu is huge...it so busy that I really think they lose business over it..nothing worse than standing behind a family with bunch of kids who can't make up their minds. thats one reason I don't stop at them...plus the Fake Meat Nuggets

What part of the Chicken do nuggets come from? Answer: carcass meat...Really! Yes, its the scrap meat from the remaining carcass and neck after all the parts are stripped; breast, legs, thighs and wings(drums/flappers)

But this advocate Group is trying to say differently. Here is why I say that. Chicken Breast in the Grocery store are the most expensive cut of a chicken.

https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/whats-in-those-chicken-nuggets/

 

[J Grant]

If we don't want to live in a disposable society built on lies, how about not going to Micky d's and the others like it? ( unless they change their menu and business model) If kids scream and cry show them a photo of cattle and chickens kept in CAIFO (confined feeding operations, not a farm, animal prison) ; kids are smart, they will realize the lie behind a "happy meal": and beg to leave. Take the same 20 minutes it takes to drive to and wait in line for "fast food" and buy real food instead or patronize a restaurant with fresh real food instead. Hard to find that restaurant? If they see they can get the biliousness back from the POS fast food places they will open again.

We look around and see people getting fat, sick, kids getting diabetes from ff diet, and jobs disappearing, yet enable it. Our own actions as consumers can be a powerful way to change things. Change toward more humane treatment of animals has been made ( getting chickens out of battery cages, )due to public pressure but a lot more can be done. Corporations will only do what is right when it hurts their bottom line ( consumers stop buying carp or things /food made in crappy ways)

 

[J Grant]

https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/they-eat-what-what-are-they-feeding-animals-factory-farms

Also the chickens grown for these places are grotesque versions of chickens, bred to grow to huge size in a short time, why the it has no taste and a puffy texture, it barely qualifies as meat since, the chickens have no meat muscle just fat ,since they don't move around and grow big in weeks instead of a normal growth cycle.

http://www.foodintegrity.org/fast-growing-chicken-debate-growing-fast/

Now a MickyD's itself with kiosks devoid of humanity looks like the soulless institution it is. Why not skip the meal and send your money to the corporation /franchise....

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...an-up-its-chicken-act/?utm_term=.2969a068e9a7

 

[Carnivore]

Here is where I go for Chicken in Charlotte

http://www.priceschickencoop.com/

https://www.thechickenboxcafe.com/

The Chicken Box is my favorite because I get .Smothered Chicken with Rice (Dark Meat)

Is it healthy eating? Nope...I don't care, I go for flavor and large portion for the price.

Point about this is these business survive and thrive in spite of the Fast-Food Places. and Chain Restaurants.

 

[glenn walker]

That applies to CALIFORNIA with super high home prices. There are many areas of the country, including right where I live and work, where homes or condos cost 75k-200k and many homes bought FHA or VA or low down, being able to save for that down-payment or make more $ to qualify for loan can move some from renter to owner category

A California conversation with two Neo-Intellectuals In San Francisco about minimum wage and other issues.

From Los Angeles all the way up the coast to Washington State are some of the most interesting people in the Country yet in reality they keep making it more and more expensive to live and inadvertently are forcing more and more people into homelessness or poverty all while living in their multi-million dollar bungalows. I used to love going up to San Francisco and sitting around talking to the Neo-Intellectuals but you better be armed with the right credentials because these folks all think the same and debate or having a different opinion will quickly result in being exiled from the tribe and called a hater. On the minimum wage debate I usually wait until the PHD or Graduate Student has drank two or three craft beers or a carafe of wine and then I start asking questions. Hey I love it up here but all the homeless people laying on the sidewalks and poop on the streets is very disturbing have the people spoken to the Mayor or State Senator about this ?

Response: Yes we are funding "Poop-Patrollers " who earn a starting wage of $71,760 a year, which swells to a value of $184,678 with mandated benefits and we are also trying to educate the homeless on where they can locate public restrooms. Question : Have you guys considered employing some homeless people at $20.00 per hour or raising the minimum wage to $20.00 which is substantially cheaper than $72,000 a year plus benefits to a city employee ? Response: No we can't do that because our State Employee's Union won't allow it and the homeless are considered a health & safety issue and are not trained to clean up Poop. Question: Seems like a shower a hot meal and a City Mandated Poop-Patrol course would get them up to speed ? Response: Yes that's a good idea but we spent a few billion on that new bullet train and once it's completed our plan is to shoot the homeless at 150.00 miles per-hour up to Merced because it's located in a Semi-Arid-Climate and those 110 degree summers create a more humane and sustainable lifestyle for the uneducated and homeless. Question: What do you think about the earth coming to an-end in 12 years due to climate change-Don't you think It could be a win-win because it would solve the minimum wage-over-populations and homelessness problems all at once ? Response: That's a good point but we don't like negativity and even though it would solve the homeless and minimum wage problem it would not be good for generating tax revenue and that's why our goal is to increase taxes so we can get to a point of living in a sustainable carbon free environment. Recommendation : Hey guys by the way if you have any student loans my advice is to hedge your bet and default on them because if the earth does come to an-end in 12 years it's your responsibility and moral obligation to not leave any debts behind. Response: Man that's a profound pearl of wisdom because my PHD In Adventure Education didn't address heavy issues like this and now that I think about it that no good Bigger-Bank-USA holds the loan and they have been charged in the past as being a gross polluter and the EPA had even fined them because some of those 75 year old buildings had lead based paint and asbestos-wrapped pipes so paying back that student loan would mean we are supporting an- immoral earth killing corporation.

Good-Bye : Hey Brandon & Mason this has been a great time and our consumption of high-cost beer has certainly helped keep another person employed so how much of a tip should we leave the server ? Response: Brandon and I don't believe in leaving tips to low wage uneducated food servers because it can result in creating a false sense of economic security for them. One more question: I see hundreds maybe thousands of homeless people sleeping in the streets but I haven't even seen one stray dog ? Response: Well that's because it's illegal and inhumane for a dog to sleep on a cold sidewalk and unlike homeless people they didn't have an-opportunity to get educated- So our rapid response humane society teams sweep the City every day and night and all animals are taken to our state of the art climate controlled sanctuary where they are fed-bathed and housed in calming centers while they wait to be adopted.

OK great seeing you guys again maybe I can make it up next year and we can attend the $50.00 per hour minimum wage march and maybe that will save the appraisal profession too because I believe in both trickle-up economics and a trickle-down economics because with a $50.00 minimum wage that will push me up from the bottom and with a 70% tax on the wealthy a good trickling down on me may just get me up to $100.00 per hour which will certainly help me pay for all my bad habits

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Mickey D has no monopoly on kiosk ordering. Red Robin and others have eliminated the order ticket as does every drive thru chain around.

Chick fil a does not buy broilers that weigh over 4.5 pounds. The size of the bird isn't an issue. They are not GMO. They are simply bred to be bigger just like Beefmaster are bigger cattle than Highlanders. The diet and exercise is critical to the toughness of a bird. And a firmer bird means the meat is drier. Try a wild pheasant or quail sometimes. Their white meat fried or baked is very dry. And therefore a free range chicken is going to grow slower and is supposedly tastier, and isn't as mushy (tender). But the protein difference is zero as is the difference in organic and conventional birds. An organic diet is not superior in any way. And most big companies have stopped inoculating eggs to prevent coccidiosis - a protozoa in the gut- which is a disease that is endemic to fowls and as a result, bird mortality increases without that inoculation. Organic farms lose about double the young birds that inoculated flocks do.

As for veggies (raw) salmonella is a chronic safety issue and kills and sickens more people than any contaminated cooked beef. Only an idiot eats rare hamburger. It is an invitation to listeria.