Gratuity

[Michigan CG]

Mr. Hall:

Do not misinterpret me. I was merely stating that these do not hold up in court. I still work for the gentleman that trained me and have no desire to go out by myself and compete with him.

It is my opinion that 2,000 hours for a residential trainee is 1/2 of what it should be, and that a CG should have 5,000 hours of training. All I am saying is if these guppies want to leave after the minimum requirments they will and no document can stop them which is a shame.

Personally, I find it abhorent that people get trained (good or not) and try to directly compete with their old mentor.

 

[Bobby Byrd]

It is a gentlemans agreement. Completely unenforceable in court. Does that mean I "poach" in his pond? NO! Can I "poach"? Yes. But, when I market, I do ask if P.G.S., cert res, has a working relationship with them before/when I make my sales pitch. If they do I inform them that I will not be accepting any assignments in certain counties.

I think a mentor is always a mentor. It's more important to keep the relationship, you'll both benefit in the long run. One day you might have the magic comp, one day he might.

Glad to see that not all appraisers are just looking to cut someones throat...

 

[Al Merrick]

Did an appraisal for a retired dermitologist and he wrote
me a nice thank you note on a prescription pad....I put it on
my refrigerator, makes me feel better than a $20 bill.

Do you have a pimple problem.....

 

[Joy Price]

I did an ispection last Christmas I think a couple of days before Christmas day. When I got there borrower had left a check for $350. I called him on his cell and explained my fee was $325 and he could mail me the correct amount. He simply said, "Merry Christmas then. I won't miss it." No discussion of value or favors. He was simply happy to get things done and wished me happy holidays.

Bribe, No. Happy people, Yes. It didn't skew my opinion. And I sometimes charge $350 for extra hard work during holidays.

 

[Scott R Marshall]

I stayed with my supervisor for one year before having to leave as the situation had deteriorated but to this day I still respect him and call him for his professional opinion. His comment to me about competition has stuck with me, and I paraphrase, "If you become a better appraiser than me than you deserve my business." There's part of the situation with the trainee/supervisor relationship. Let's all face facts, and whether there is a gentlemans agreement or not, anyone you train can take your business and SHOULD take your business if indeed they are better than you. Then what motivation is there to train you say? Well, really the only reason is to improve the profession, (for the good supervisors out there) or get yourself a slave/lackey/guinea pig/whatever for a few months or years while your wallet gets bigger. Personally I think to train anyone calls for sacrifice both of your time and your talents and I personally believe that the motivation in training or any type of teaching for that matter is to make someone better than you are. If that's not why you're doing it, how can you expect the trainee to respect you once they leave and if that is your motivation and your trainee indeed exceeds your own knowledge, pat yourself on the back you have helped contribute to possibly making this industry better.

Guess I should get off the soap box now.

 

[PropertyEconomics]

SCOTT .. THAT IS MY SOAP BOX YOU ARE ON .. you are too young to have your own ... HAHAHAHA

 

[Scott R Marshall]

Yeah, I still remember my saving & loans scandal comment