Failed the appraiser exam :)

[Greg Parker]

It is also worthwhile to remember that most states now base the test on situational questions as opposed to memorization.

Henry Harrisons book on how to pass (formsandworms.com) is hands down the best one out there.

Better luck next time.

 

[Colorado Guy]

Best resource I used:

Fundamentals of Real Estate Appraisal
Ventolo/Williams

Great resource and I still refer to it once in a while

 

[Colorado Guy]

I also have Harrisons guide - it was great for the Certified test

 

[Caligirl]

Denis

Your message service is disabled in the forum, and I am not a member of Yahoo.
I don't want to start a "smear" campaign either. I'm just interested to find out for what circumstances in residential appraisal the Cost Approach is taught to be superior to the Sales Comparison Approach? You can run a search on Cost Approach here on the forum and find 100+ pages of discussion (many of the more recent (last year) I contributed to) and find that almost no one suggests that, as a rule, the CA is a better indicator of value than the Sales Comparison approach.

If you happen to remember the name of the text book, and want to share, I'd appreciate it.

Hi Denis,
I will find it for you. Actually, the information from the textbook was that INCOME properties, not residential properties, are best analyzed using the income approach and secondly the cost approach. I'm betting this is a dated text, published before the boom of the last four years in which sales/1031 exchanges of commercial properties heated up-also, could be true in rural communities where there a very few commercial properties.

I don't do much residential work but I KNOW that sale comparison is more reliable by far than any cost indicator for residences. The focus of the course was primarily on how to do a good cost approach, when requested. Highlighted were odd properties with no comps. Also the problem with Marshall and Swift always coming in way too low for this market (30% developer's profit adjustment is typical, it seems, to come in at a reasonable number).

Re: smear campaign. Sorry if I sounded harsh, I've seen your posts and you seem like a solid guy. I don't want anything to be misunderstood about the teacher of that course, who is a very highly respected appraiser here in Northern California. She was NOT teaching us to use cost over sales as a rule of thumb.

Best to you, and I will find it.

Jodie

 

[Stone]

This is the second time I've quoted myself on the on-line subject, but I think it is worth sharing, and since I posted this in early 2005, quoting is necessary. FTR - I came by this information from a very good friend who happens to be a rep for one of the two largest testing companies. He sells tests to governments and organizations for tests along the lines of the appraiser tests.

1. Find out who wrote questions. This should be readily available at the home page or by clicking an obvious link. Licensing exam companies pay 300-500 dollars for each question on the test you will be taking. Good quiz prep companies will also be willing to pay a qualified author good money to write their questions. Bad companies will get someone to do them on the cheap, and they may not be up to date, representative, or even accurate.

2. Find out who the company is. This also should be readily availble and there should be a good explanation of who the people you are paying are. Are they a one-off company that decided to make a few bucks doing quiz preps, or are they an established company that was doing this before the internet made this type of thing so quick and easy? Stick with an established company.

One personal note, no matter which companies and books you go with, pay less attention to their USPAP info. With as many changes as have been taking place, it is much better to read the current version yourself and maybe make your own study guide for areas you need a little assistance in. You will more than likely have a couple of USPAP questions that will be regarding recently changed items to make sure you are up to date. The bonus is, if you get into an argument with someone, and they tell you to read USPAP, you can say that you just did.

As an aside, I felt learnappraising.com was pretty much a waste. I used it when studying for the CG test and it was less helpfull than the books I had which were several years old.

Take this info for what its worth. I've found that people who are working towards the test really like learnappraising.com because of the format. But, I would say that this is an over-rated factor in a test prep.

Good luck

 

[spittman]

www.cramdisk.com

I didn't pass my first time for certification. And I believe that many who don't pass, it's not because we don't know appraising, it's because we are just not good at test taking. For $$$ you can download software from www.cramdisk.com for pratice testing. The software was worth every penny when I passed the second time around with ease. What's good about the software is that every test is unique & random (just like the real one), it is very user friendly (you can choose how many questions or which category) and it will give you statistics on your strengths and weaknesses. It also has a "clue" feature during the pratices which will give you little hints & references to help you remember certain things. Sort of like word association. I found this method very effective as I was taking the real test.

 

[hastalavista]

Hi Denis,
I will find it for you. Actually, the information from the textbook was that INCOME properties, not residential properties, are best analyzed using the income approach and secondly the cost approach.

No need to; I thought it might be in reference to residential.

Re: smear campaign. Sorry if I sounded harsh, I've seen your posts and you seem like a solid guy. I don't want anything to be misunderstood about the teacher of that course, who is a very highly respected appraiser here in Northern California. She was NOT teaching us to use cost over sales as a rule of thumb.

Jodie

No problem here, either. :icon_smile:

 

[Caligirl]

I failed the exam by 8 questions. The book I studied really didn't have the same questions the exam did. Anyone have any recommendations on what I should use to study? Also, anyone know what the princple is called when a court tells any appraiser to do a job that violated part of USPAP? The first answer was juridictional prince, the second answer was departure rule and I forgot others.

I don't know which exam you took. For the basic exams, I would recommend the Appraisal Institute's Basic Principles course, or the Anthony Schools 'Exam Review' course. Both require attendance in class, and they teach you how to use the HP-12C. Anthony in particular teaches to the test; the AI courses are broader and teach principles and theory.

While I was still in the exam phase I made flashcards for EVERYTHING and carried them around with me in my purse. I could study anytime, anywhere. I also set aside 1 hour, every night, for review. Reviewing at night, I believe, allows you to work on the information while you sleep. It works, you'll see.

Good luck.

 

[Mike Richard]

McDonald's is hiring...

Clearly you are not cut out for the appraisal business. If you did not pass, you should stop pursuing it and look into another career. This profession is meant for the sharpest minds America has to offer.

Good Luck, Bro!!!

 

[hastalavista]

Clearly you are not cut out for the appraisal business. If you did not pass, you should stop pursuing it and look into another career. This profession is meant for the sharpest minds America has to offer.

Good Luck, Bro!!!

Richard-

If your post was meant in jest, you might want to add a tag that says so.

If your post was meant in earnest, I couldn't disagree with you more.