Karon Hoffman
Freshman Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2002
I'm still homeless when it comes to finding someone to train me. But I am not discouraged. I got some excellent advice from slacker and I am by no means sitting still. Just because no one seems to have any confidence in my ability (other than me) I'm not sitting on my hands. I'll just go along trying to train myself by doing appraisals for family and friends until I find some gentle soul who will be willing to give me some constructive criticism and guidance.
Yes....it takes forever to put together a practice appraisal when you don't know what you're doing...and if I could train myself not to eat and my mortgage company to wait a while for a payment, I could make a little faster progress. I have stopped spending so much time looking for a trainer and decided I'll just have to put together a package that will show them just how valuable I can be to them. It takes a little longer this way and I will still need to be trained by a professional when I get through, but at least they'll have a good idea of where to start with me.
As a realtor I have the advantage of being able to follow an appraiser around when they come out to my listings. I ask a lot of questions and watch what they do, even help..ha,ha sometimes. Most of them are awesome..even encouraging. Of course I did have one who asked me how many people were in my class (35) and then proceeded to tell me that was 35 too many. He said we don't need any appraisers in this area and I should do myself a favor and forget it. He's entitled to his opinion, but I don't have to agree with him. What's sad is I was really impressed with his professionalism and couldn't criticize a single thing he did. I hope some day I can be that good. He checked everything very systematically and questioned things that most people wouldn't even have noticed. I actually learned more from him than any one else I've watched.
The problem here is that while I am very aware of what is involved in an inspection, I haven't been involved with the work before and after. I've done many CMA's as a realtor....GOOD ONES... so I'm using some of what I've learned there...but it's not enough. I'll bet almost everyone here knows that in most offices realtors recieve NO training in how to do a CMA. I was lucky because I went to an office where my broker offered classes to teach us how to do a CMA. We actually had to go out to houses she provided and do the complete evaluation on our own, then we went to class and had to present our market and explain our reasoning. It was great because she'd already done it and could point out things we'd missed that would add or detract from the value. Her reasoning was that her agents should ALL be able to do the market and come in the same general range. The classes weren't mandatory but strongly recommended. Agents in our office have to provide our CMA with every listing and if we don't do our homework and fly by the seat of our pants or pull a number out of the air, she'll show us the door. Yes...sometimes the seller doesn't listen and wants to try the market at their own price...but on their regular reports that they get to show what we're doing to sell their home, the first line states the list price AND the recommended list price. That way...they know and are reminded regularly where their home should be listed.
I am assuming that is the kind of training I will be recieving once I find someone. Appraisals are VERY important and I never want to be considered a number hitter. I have seen first hand what happens when someone pays too much for a house and then needs to sell it for whatever reason and can't come close to what they paid. There are tons of foreclosures in my area and lots of new construction. The market here is very volatile and a real challenge. I'll just keep plodding along and trying to do my own thing for a while. One of these days I will make it and I will be a survivor. There's got to be a need for another honest appraiser one day.
Yes....it takes forever to put together a practice appraisal when you don't know what you're doing...and if I could train myself not to eat and my mortgage company to wait a while for a payment, I could make a little faster progress. I have stopped spending so much time looking for a trainer and decided I'll just have to put together a package that will show them just how valuable I can be to them. It takes a little longer this way and I will still need to be trained by a professional when I get through, but at least they'll have a good idea of where to start with me.
As a realtor I have the advantage of being able to follow an appraiser around when they come out to my listings. I ask a lot of questions and watch what they do, even help..ha,ha sometimes. Most of them are awesome..even encouraging. Of course I did have one who asked me how many people were in my class (35) and then proceeded to tell me that was 35 too many. He said we don't need any appraisers in this area and I should do myself a favor and forget it. He's entitled to his opinion, but I don't have to agree with him. What's sad is I was really impressed with his professionalism and couldn't criticize a single thing he did. I hope some day I can be that good. He checked everything very systematically and questioned things that most people wouldn't even have noticed. I actually learned more from him than any one else I've watched.
The problem here is that while I am very aware of what is involved in an inspection, I haven't been involved with the work before and after. I've done many CMA's as a realtor....GOOD ONES... so I'm using some of what I've learned there...but it's not enough. I'll bet almost everyone here knows that in most offices realtors recieve NO training in how to do a CMA. I was lucky because I went to an office where my broker offered classes to teach us how to do a CMA. We actually had to go out to houses she provided and do the complete evaluation on our own, then we went to class and had to present our market and explain our reasoning. It was great because she'd already done it and could point out things we'd missed that would add or detract from the value. Her reasoning was that her agents should ALL be able to do the market and come in the same general range. The classes weren't mandatory but strongly recommended. Agents in our office have to provide our CMA with every listing and if we don't do our homework and fly by the seat of our pants or pull a number out of the air, she'll show us the door. Yes...sometimes the seller doesn't listen and wants to try the market at their own price...but on their regular reports that they get to show what we're doing to sell their home, the first line states the list price AND the recommended list price. That way...they know and are reminded regularly where their home should be listed.
I am assuming that is the kind of training I will be recieving once I find someone. Appraisals are VERY important and I never want to be considered a number hitter. I have seen first hand what happens when someone pays too much for a house and then needs to sell it for whatever reason and can't come close to what they paid. There are tons of foreclosures in my area and lots of new construction. The market here is very volatile and a real challenge. I'll just keep plodding along and trying to do my own thing for a while. One of these days I will make it and I will be a survivor. There's got to be a need for another honest appraiser one day.
