Bobby Bucks
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2002
- Professional Status
- Real Estate Agent or Broker
- State
- North Dakota
What do you dowith a day off or better yet with a week off? Do you pack up the spouse and kids and head to Disney or go skiing and look for the diamonds? At the Bucks Ranch we're into extreme sports. Not skydiving or bull riding, that's child's play. If you want to get paid, take a vacation and polish up your appraisal skills all at the same time, read on. What I'm talking about is the next best thing to the Bobby Bucks Continuing Education courses which will begin in January 2004, but that's another story and another post. Your very own paid vacation is just one fax away. It's more commonly known as the "Rural Field Review." It's that fax you usually throw in the trash or politely decline. I do likewise most of the time, but there are times when I'm bored on a Friday afternoon and my weekend is unplanned.....the fax starts singing and I see a town listed that I've heard of, but never visited....as for USPAP, I'll know that town's stats better than anyone else in the business so that'll make me an expert.....I glance at it the fax.... think for a moment and say to myself,"It's time to saddle up and ride."....if you ever partake in one of these adventures, you'll see things that most civilized people never dream of seeing and you'll get paid for it to boot. You'll see school buses transformed into sunrooms, appliances converted to playgrounds and architectural works that would cause any self respecting ARC honcho to go into cardiac arrest. When an AMC calls on Friday afternoon and says "Bucks, can you do a field review in Hooterville? On the map, it looks pretty close." I'll reply well it's closer than Sonora, but technically it is in my domain....let's discuss a fee." if they don't hang up, that's music to my ears.....the mere fact that it's a question telegraphs that they have a mileage budget.....right Uncle Joe? 
........it means they've probably called 9 other appraisers and Bucks is not the one they wanted to call.....when they ask "Do you go there?" I dig my heels in and go for the jugular....."trip fee Bucks is my name and I'll have you soft copy in 3 weeks if and only if you don't call me for daily updates"..... After all it is a paid vacation.
My favorite part of a rural field reviews is the dogs.....there are typically at least half a dozen dogs in the yard of every comp and no visible address numbers which means you have to stop for at least one minute and look for numbers. For some reason all dogs know you're an appraiser and they resent your presence. If the comp is on the end of a dead end road it's all the more fun, because by the time you get turned around with a three point turn (bear in mind there are no rural culdesacs)....every homeowner in the neighborhood is looking to see who the intruder is, how well armed you are and why you're there......they scowl and frown because they know you must be either a bill collecter, revenuer or worse.....the dogs know better.....they know why you're there.....why the dogs understand is still a mystery to me......I canalways recognize that "appraiser bark".....it starts in a bass or baritone and works up to an ear splitting falsetto......every dog within 3 miles knows you'll soon be riding by and they're arranging the gauntlet......dogs also know that once you get that picture you'll have the good sense to never go down that road again and they make you pay for every second while you're there. Another thing you'll soon learn with rural reviews is that road kill can be better than street signs. More than once I've found my way back to the main road by remembering exactly where that formerly healthy armadillo bit the dust. I've often wondered if road kill could be used to identify a marketing area. Maybe I'll try that on my next 2055 exterior. That may not fly with some underwriter in Dallas or Manhattan, but if Bucks is reviewing your report, road kill is accceptable for neighborhood boundaries. So the next time your weekend looks a little dull, sort through that fax bin.......an adventure just might await.
........it means they've probably called 9 other appraisers and Bucks is not the one they wanted to call.....when they ask "Do you go there?" I dig my heels in and go for the jugular....."trip fee Bucks is my name and I'll have you soft copy in 3 weeks if and only if you don't call me for daily updates"..... After all it is a paid vacation. My favorite part of a rural field reviews is the dogs.....there are typically at least half a dozen dogs in the yard of every comp and no visible address numbers which means you have to stop for at least one minute and look for numbers. For some reason all dogs know you're an appraiser and they resent your presence. If the comp is on the end of a dead end road it's all the more fun, because by the time you get turned around with a three point turn (bear in mind there are no rural culdesacs)....every homeowner in the neighborhood is looking to see who the intruder is, how well armed you are and why you're there......they scowl and frown because they know you must be either a bill collecter, revenuer or worse.....the dogs know better.....they know why you're there.....why the dogs understand is still a mystery to me......I canalways recognize that "appraiser bark".....it starts in a bass or baritone and works up to an ear splitting falsetto......every dog within 3 miles knows you'll soon be riding by and they're arranging the gauntlet......dogs also know that once you get that picture you'll have the good sense to never go down that road again and they make you pay for every second while you're there. Another thing you'll soon learn with rural reviews is that road kill can be better than street signs. More than once I've found my way back to the main road by remembering exactly where that formerly healthy armadillo bit the dust. I've often wondered if road kill could be used to identify a marketing area. Maybe I'll try that on my next 2055 exterior. That may not fly with some underwriter in Dallas or Manhattan, but if Bucks is reviewing your report, road kill is accceptable for neighborhood boundaries. So the next time your weekend looks a little dull, sort through that fax bin.......an adventure just might await.
They's nothin' better 'n possum stew. My granddaddy would bring 'em home and bile 'em up with taters 'n onions. He'd fry up some okra, pinto beans, and fix a mess of cornbread. I remember the first time I went to the home place up air in Winston-Salem and we walked in the house that ev'nin'. I thew up it stanks so bad. Man, please. He was a building contractor, but he sho' won't no cook. He took drink as well. I musta larnt sumpin from him. Probably the drink. Possums is nyesty and I tried buildin' houses, but I had to deal with subcontractors and that rernt it fer me.