Entering My Career As A Real Estate Appraiser

[Paul Ness MAI]

Here are my answers to your three questions.

(1) In college I started as a real estate major, ultimately changing to finance thinking it would be a more marketable degree providing a broader range of opportunities. After sending resumes to all the local MAI’s in 1984, I too was faced with many closed doors, so things haven’t changed that much. However, I moved to another state and was fortunate enough to land a job as a residential appraiser trainee with a savings and loan. I reached a cross-road with the S&L and had to decide to either pursue banking or appraising, and chose the latter. After gaining residential experience, I got an opportunity to take a commercial position back in my home town. I eventually got into staff management, got my MAI designation, and now work in appraisal administration for a commercial bank.

Most appraisers “fall” into this line of work, many come from real estate sales. I definitely didn’t choose appraising for the money initially. My sage advice would be find something you love doing, pursue excellence, and the money will follow.

(2) I have been in the appraisal profession since 1984. I was in residential for three years and commercial for the last 15 years. Appraising is a “gray haired” profession. Experience within a market means a lot and it takes many years to build a reputation, which is why the profession is not tailored for someone seeking a mid-life career change. Residential appraising is still pretty much a cottage industry, with most being self-employed working out of their homes or small offices. Most are unable to take a trainee. Commercial appraising runs the range of one-person businesses to large multi-national multi-office firms.

(3) I know of nobody who works as a part-time appraiser unless they are in brokerage or development as well.

 

[Restrain]

I've been in the business for 30 years. The upside is that your time is your time. However, that's the only upside.

Downsides: No client is forever. You get 'em, you lose 'em. That means you are always looking for new business. When things are good you don't sleep because you are always behind. When things are bad, you don't sleep because you can't pay your bills. You won't have health insurance other than major medical which will cost you $$$ no matter what these insurance ads say. If you are over 22 and have ANY medical condition, including having a baby, they won't cover you. Outfits like NASE say they will cover you, but the cost will run over $400 per month for one person.

The only reason I still do this is that I'm a member of the over-50 crowd and no one will hire me at a salary commensurate with my skills.

Appraising is a dying profession. Find something else. Sell real estate, sell insurance, sell cars. Go back to school and become a CPA. Don't waste your time with this business. Take this from someone who has had a lifetime in this industry.

Good luck.

 

[Ross (CO)]

R., You seem to be correct about "you get 'em, and you lose 'em", clients that is. I have had some (acquaitances in our business) tell me that...if you were working for a certain client for only less than 1 year, you were probably doing things the right way". You should transfer your posting over to the "wannabee" forum for some who are concerned about the negativity being shared for those recently getting started up in this profession or giving it consideration. Many feel that an established appraiser has the capacity to take on a new person in the trade, all the while with that new person not seeing what the impact of AVM's, BPO's, deminimus values, and unethical participanats in the entire process have done to REDUCE the total amount of potential assignments coming into the offices of most appraisers. The re-fi boom has passed, and I do not see interest rates as having done much changing in quite some time. Those who are going to re-fi have done so ! What lingers and trickles in are the assignments involving super-mega-debt consolidation, pre-foreclosure jitters, and financial mismanagement reconstruction. If an appraiser can not "solve" the individual's "problem", then someone else probably will, and we know what that means.