Does Minimum Wage Increase Help Or Hurt The Appraisal Business?

[Randolph Kinney]

Wages are dependent on where you live and what you do and the labor supply.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

Yup, "make certain of obtaining or providing (something)"



Nobody said all, just the most.

Still haven't seen a single answer, not that I expected you to have any.

Because, as I pointed out, your question is flawed. Guaranteed (or ensured) success is not the issue.

Ever hear of a thesaurus--suggest you note that "guarantee" is a synonym for "ensure." See, ya learn something new every day--with an open mind.

 

[Jacob Coleman]

Sorry for the title error ... Anyone knows how to edit the title?

i meant to say Does MininmumWage Increase Help or Hurt the Appraisal Business?

Minimum wage have increased to as much as $15/hour in some states... While appraisal fees have stayed stagnant or reduced significantly due to the creation of AMCs.

Most appraisers fly solo, but there's still quite a bit of appraisers who have a small office staff of assistants. Does the increase in minimum wage across the country help or hurt the appraisal business, or no effect? My humble opinion is that it hurts our appraisal business whether you work solo or have office assistants.

Please share your opinion on How does the minimum wage increase affect appraisers and the appraisal business?

Minimum wage is not good for any business. If you are already paying your staffs above the suggested minimum wage, then your direct impact could be less.

However, if you are operating at a low profit margin, then you either need to layoff some assistants, or reduce their working hours. Especially, in a competitive appraisal market, it could be difficult to pass on the cost increase to your clients. (Well, they could just find another appraiser who are willing to accept lower fees) (But of course, unless you have a specialized skills that are hard to replace. i.e.: expert witness, farm appraisal)

In some cases, the business might even need to close down since their original profit margin is so small.

There are other indirect impacts too. Think of all the other increase in your business expense (i.e.: office supplies). After all, your supplier companies also need to pay more to their staffs.

In a perfect competition environment, employers and employees should have the freedom to set their own price. If an employer is making good money and their staff is valuable to them, then the boss would increase their wage to keep the low-turnover rate, and productivity of the company. If the employer fails to do so, then the employee can just find another company who could value more of their skills.

The wage should be set by both employer and employee, which is the balance point they both find it acceptable. In other words, it's the market wisdom driven by all the companies and staffs, and not just a random number (i.e. $15, $16, or others)

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

ound 554,000 homeless people

Working with a homeless group in our Tiny Homes project, I can say that here, there is very little JOBLESSNESS...but homelessness is another issue. And minimum wage increase isn't going to help entirely as many employers here are paying far above minimum wages. The bulk of help needed arises from a family crisis - health or divorce predominately. A man injured on a job with children to feed is out of work for an indeterminate time, and often without pay unless in a really good job. For those in poor jobs, the issue is not going back to work...Unemployment here is basically the number of people in transition from job to job. But the issue is they run out of cash to pay the deposits on rent, electric and utilities. They work every day if they can. But cannot save up money enough to get into housing. Without local family with room or financial assistance, they are slow to accumulate cash for deposits. For women the problem is worse because they often have small children. It is day care that is the killer for them. Unless they have unemployed kin (mom or grandma) to do that, then they don't have enough left over for rent...and face the same issue of saving enough to make deposits. 90 days free rent and utilities will allow these families to cope with finding housing. And counselors will be guiding them on managing their finances, etc. We also have some employers now who are providing at least a portion of day care for employees and I suspect that trend will increase with time.

 

[Eli]

You can paint it anyway you want. C&R is coming. It is what will keep it from going to supreme court.. I assure you many don't want it to go to supreme court. Antitrust law is why. Employee./independent contractor law too.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

C&R is coming. It is what will keep it from going to supreme court..

Dream on.

 

[Jacob Coleman]

Working with a homeless group in our Tiny Homes project, I can say that here, there is very little JOBLESSNESS...but homelessness is another issue. And minimum wage increase isn't going to help entirely as many employers here are paying far above minimum wages. The bulk of help needed arises from a family crisis - health or divorce predominately. A man injured on a job with children to feed is out of work for an indeterminate time, and often without pay unless in a really good job. For those in poor jobs, the issue is not going back to work...Unemployment here is basically the number of people in transition from job to job. But the issue is they run out of cash to pay the deposits on rent, electric and utilities. They work every day if they can. But cannot save up money enough to get into housing. Without local family with room or financial assistance, they are slow to accumulate cash for deposits. For women the problem is worse because they often have small children. It is day care that is the killer for them. Unless they have unemployed kin (mom or grandma) to do that, then they don't have enough left over for rent...and face the same issue of saving enough to make deposits. 90 days free rent and utilities will allow these families to cope with finding housing. And counselors will be guiding them on managing their finances, etc. We also have some employers now who are providing at least a portion of day care for employees and I suspect that trend will increase with time.

Thanks for sharing, Terrel. I also agree with you that there are people living in poverty that needs help from the society. And that should be in the form of social assistance from the government (i.e.: work skills development, education assistance or even monthly payment subsidies), but not strictly from the private sectors.

Raising minimum wage is not the solution. The reason is if that is the ultimate way to solve poverty. Why don't we just increase the minimum wage to $100/hr or even $1000/hr?

The answer is the wage that employers are paying needs to be justified by the value that the staffs are bringing in to the company.

The minimum wage did not take into consideration of the affordability of a company. Although the government has the responsibility to re-distribute wealth, and reduce the rich-poor gap, it should be done through tax laws. So at least, the profitability of a company is taken into consideration.

 

[Eli]

Thanks for sharing, Terrel. I also agree with you that there are people living in poverty that needs help from the society. And that should be in the form of social assistance from the government (i.e.: work skills development, education assistance or even monthly payment subsidies), but not strictly from the private sectors.

Raising minimum wage is not the solution. The reason is if that is the ultimate way to solve poverty. Why don't we just increase the minimum wage to $100/hr or even $1000/hr?

The answer is the wage that employers are paying needs to be justified by the value that the staffs are bringing in to the company.

The minimum wage did not take into consideration of the affordability of a company. Although the government has the responsibility to re-distribute wealth, and reduce the rich-poor gap, it should be done through tax laws. So at least, the profitability of a company is taken into consideration.

Yes, Eisenhower plan had it right. He was a republican by the way.

 

[Eli]

Lobbyist screwed it up..The wealthiest know it is screwed up. They are just asking what can I do?

They are literally volunteering for public/private partnerships.

They know debt will kill us and them.

 

[Mr Rex]

You can paint it anyway you want. C&R is coming. It is what will keep it from going to supreme court.. I assure you many don't want it to go to supreme court. Antitrust law is why. Employee./independent contractor law too.

Umm, you obviously haven't been paying attention to Louisiana? Supreme Court? Send me just a pinch of what you are smoking. It's been years, but I guess I'm missing out...