Terry Russell
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2002
- Professional Status
- Appraiser Trainee
- State
- Montana
Better lay some groundwork, OK?
My name is Terry and I am a student moving towards certification in Real Estate Appraisal in Montana. I have some background in Real Estate, having bought, repaired, rented, lived in, managed and eventually sold numerous residences. For six years of the last 15 years my sole income was from my own rental property. I have owned and operated a residential property maintenance service since 1998.
Prior to and concurrent with my real estate meddling, I was a professional surveyor/navigator contracting yearly tours on geophysical research vessels worldwide. This career spanned 14 years. I was Chief Navigator with GECO-PRAKLA-SCHLUMBERGER, LTD. based in Singapore when I decided it was time to come home. I was making excellent money and earned a day off for every day worked. Sounds pretty good?
Why did I quit? I wanted a dog. Really! I did. That was a good reason. But a very close second was that the industry I entered into no longer existed.
The expense of operating a10-20 million dollar survey ship averages about $100k a day or $4-5000 per hour. The ship can earn almost a million dollars day, though they rarely do, because technical, environmental or political problems. As a chief navigator I was in charge of positioning the vessel and all of its external equipment. This was once a fairly simple task. But as technology advanced and made available resources that increased the data acquisition a hundred fold and the responsibilties soared. But there was still only one Chief navigator. If something breaks and it always does you are expected to fix it and fix it fast. Remember, if my equipment is responsible for the downtime and the ship is waiting on you and you alone, the clock is ticking at the tune of $20k per hour lost. It is a relatively high-pressure occupation.
But the main reason I left was that as the industry became more and more multinational, the nonethical side of corporate greed reared its big butt. I worked on a ship in the Persian Gulf six weeks after the Gulf War. It was a small ship with a complement of 22 crewmembers of 14 different nationalities. It was like a caste system, where people where treated on the basis of their passport. And it just got worse and then bad. My assistant might be philipino but he made 1/5th of what I did.
I didn't like what I saw. I did not like trying to defend myself as "not one of them" but I was one of them. So I quit.
Now, what does all of this have to do with real estate appraisal. Nothing at all. What it is supposed to relate to is people. You, me and him and them.
I decided to become an appraiser because I believe, firmly believe I would like it. Do I expect to make big bucks? I have learned to try not to expect anything. I find I am disappointed far less. No, I think if you do something you really enjoy, you will succeed at it in countless ways.
Now, here is my question. I have been advised by many to seek out an honest appraiser to work with. How?
How do I find an honest appraiser? Terry
If you would rather e-mail me send it to: atc@dr.com
My name is Terry and I am a student moving towards certification in Real Estate Appraisal in Montana. I have some background in Real Estate, having bought, repaired, rented, lived in, managed and eventually sold numerous residences. For six years of the last 15 years my sole income was from my own rental property. I have owned and operated a residential property maintenance service since 1998.
Prior to and concurrent with my real estate meddling, I was a professional surveyor/navigator contracting yearly tours on geophysical research vessels worldwide. This career spanned 14 years. I was Chief Navigator with GECO-PRAKLA-SCHLUMBERGER, LTD. based in Singapore when I decided it was time to come home. I was making excellent money and earned a day off for every day worked. Sounds pretty good?
Why did I quit? I wanted a dog. Really! I did. That was a good reason. But a very close second was that the industry I entered into no longer existed.
The expense of operating a10-20 million dollar survey ship averages about $100k a day or $4-5000 per hour. The ship can earn almost a million dollars day, though they rarely do, because technical, environmental or political problems. As a chief navigator I was in charge of positioning the vessel and all of its external equipment. This was once a fairly simple task. But as technology advanced and made available resources that increased the data acquisition a hundred fold and the responsibilties soared. But there was still only one Chief navigator. If something breaks and it always does you are expected to fix it and fix it fast. Remember, if my equipment is responsible for the downtime and the ship is waiting on you and you alone, the clock is ticking at the tune of $20k per hour lost. It is a relatively high-pressure occupation.
But the main reason I left was that as the industry became more and more multinational, the nonethical side of corporate greed reared its big butt. I worked on a ship in the Persian Gulf six weeks after the Gulf War. It was a small ship with a complement of 22 crewmembers of 14 different nationalities. It was like a caste system, where people where treated on the basis of their passport. And it just got worse and then bad. My assistant might be philipino but he made 1/5th of what I did.
I didn't like what I saw. I did not like trying to defend myself as "not one of them" but I was one of them. So I quit.
Now, what does all of this have to do with real estate appraisal. Nothing at all. What it is supposed to relate to is people. You, me and him and them.
I decided to become an appraiser because I believe, firmly believe I would like it. Do I expect to make big bucks? I have learned to try not to expect anything. I find I am disappointed far less. No, I think if you do something you really enjoy, you will succeed at it in countless ways.
Now, here is my question. I have been advised by many to seek out an honest appraiser to work with. How?
How do I find an honest appraiser? Terry
If you would rather e-mail me send it to: atc@dr.com
