Hello. Echo. Echo.

[Tigger Is Bouncy]

Anyone else from MN around?

 

[Scott Lanz]

Yes

Scott J. Lanz

 

[Tigger Is Bouncy]

Hi Scott! Nice to know there are other MN people on here.

 

[Flygirl 152]

Hey all, I was born and raised in Minneapolis, do I count? When I was home visiting this summer I realized how much I miss it.

 

[Ken Youngkrantz]

Hi; I was just cruising around to see what was going on in Minnesota. I grew up by Lake Lillian in west central Minnesota. I have not lived in Minnesota since 1968. I am an appraiser in Bakersfield, CA. My brothers and sisters still all live in Minnesota.

Hey Tigger it is a GREAT career choice. It is a lot of work. Some times it is VERY frustrating. It can be real good money. I have been doing this for four years now. Work is still fairly steady at this time, although I am down about 40% from the first of the year.

 

[Scott Lanz]

Deb,

I can give you 50% of a being a real Minnesotan, and since you miss it, I can adjust upward 15% for a total of 65%

Scott J. Lanz

 

[Tigger Is Bouncy]

Hi; I was just cruising around to see what was going on in Minnesota. I grew up by Lake Lillian in west central Minnesota. I have not lived in Minnesota since 1968. I am an appraiser in Bakersfield, CA. My brothers and sisters still all live in Minnesota.

Hey Tigger it is a GREAT career choice. It is a lot of work. Some times it is VERY frustrating. It can be real good money. I have been doing this for four years now. Work is still fairly steady at this time, although I am down about 40% from the first of the year.

Hi Ken,
I believe I made the right move. I just need to find a mentor. I'm not afraid of hard work and I believe it will be a chance for me to spend more quality time with the family.

I was born in CA. I miss the mountains and the ocean, but I do love the 4 seasonal changes around here.
Tigger

 

[MNRural]

This industry is fine if you dont go the easy route. The easy route is working for some overworked residential appraiser that has no time or inclination to train you. He/she probably is good at networking and marketing and has a bunch of residential lenders that he/she is "in" with.

My advice is to go for a larger firm (there are plenty in the Twin Cities) that does commercial soley or commercial first and some residential (not primarily lending work), or an institution that hires appraisers such as FHA, VA, MNDot, the Feds, county assessors, etc. They pay pretty good and are stable while you are learning, taking your education, and mulling your options. Also, dont skimp on your education. Dont take the cheap classes from the large educator of real estate agents in town (we have all been there at least once).

The ones that took the easy route in the 1999-2003 boom years are probably already in another line of work. Their 'mentor' now has only enough work for himself and his son or closest relative.

 

[Tigger Is Bouncy]

This industry is fine if you dont go the easy route. The easy route is working for some overworked residential appraiser that has no time or inclination to train you. He/she probably is good at networking and marketing and has a bunch of residential lenders that he/she is "in" with.

My advice is to go for a larger firm (there are plenty in the Twin Cities) that does commercial soley or commercial first and some residential (not primarily lending work), or an institution that hires appraisers such as FHA, VA, MNDot, the Feds, county assessors, etc. They pay pretty good and are stable while you are learning, taking your education, and mulling your options. Also, dont skimp on your education. Dont take the cheap classes from the large educator of real estate agents in town (we have all been there at least once).

The ones that took the easy route in the 1999-2003 boom years are probably already in another line of work. Their 'mentor' now has only enough work for himself and his son or closest relative.

Thanks Paul. I've been contemplating whether to do commercial or not. I have an opportunity to learn from a certified general appraiser who has been doing this for 25 years, but I don't know if commercial is the end result of what I want to do. Would it still be good to start there and maybe switch to residential at a later date?

 

[stefan olafson]

I'm located just across the Red River of the North in North Dakota. Because of political problems I work only in Minnesota. I've been a Certified General Appraiser in MN since about 1992 and an appraiser since 1979.

Gee, it sounds like I'm old!