How Stressful Is This Job?

[Joe Flacco]

I can't speak for commercial but I find residential to be very stressful. Especially if working full time. Due date after due date after due date. Every day is a due date. Non stop due dates.

 

[Joe Flacco]

I find it a lot more enjoyable only doing two or three per week.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Appraising is kind of like being a farmer

And I am both...

Could you provide some examples of areas where one can specialize in?

Forestland - need forestry expertise
ROW - both acquisition and valuation opportunities
Agriculture - NC is hog and chicken country. I know 2 appraisers who are licensed here and work in KY and NC charging $5000 or more per assignment for multi-million dollar farms.
Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are building intensive and take expertise and a dull nose to do...
Cropland is another agri specialty as is agricultural retail and service - fertilizer plants, feed stores, grain storage facilities, docks, etc. as well as personal property - tractors, etc. High dollar stuff.
Marine Surveyor - valuation of boats
Recreational appraiser - RV parks, marinas, etc.
Churches - a church appraiser has value to the church, as well as those who insure those churches

 

[George Hatch]

Being self-employed at most anything will bring it's own stressors, and some people can handle that more easily than others. Not everyone is a self-starter or can thrive in an unstructured employment situation. Some people need the stability, routine and the built-in social circle that is integral to most employment .

As far as appraising goes, certain personality types are more prevalent in this business than others. If you're familiar with the Meyer-Briggs personality classification matrix we tend to get a much higher than average percentage of INTJ and ENTJ and related types than are found in the general public. Based on polling we've done here in the past something like half of us fit those profiles, which is pretty crazy when considering each only comprise around 2% of the general population.

Appraising single family requires an extremely high degree of energy - you're constantly on the go-go-go and the clients expect immediate gratification, which is almost impossible in many situations. Appraising non-residential of all other property types runs on a slower clock but is more mental in general - we will live with an assignment for at least several days at a time during which it will hang over our heads and be constantly on our minds. Most people tend to like one more than the other and some people who excel in one cannot function well under the working conditions that apply to the other.

Whatever you do, don't come into the business on the basis of what you think the money will be like. You have to like the work and care about it in order to excel at it.

 

[Deleted member 152047]

Could you provide some examples of areas where one can specialize in?

I've appraised nearly everything under the sun on the commercial side and I now specialize in healthcare: large medical office, specialty medical, and hospitals. Ultimately, it is the way to go, but it might be a long road to get there unless you start in a specialty group as a trainee and put in a lot of hours to gain the experience needed. Also, specializing is very difficult for most property types unless you are in a big firm. The caveat is the eminent domain guys, but they often have to wait 3, 6, 9, 12 months to get paid on a job.

Other commercial specialties are:
Gas Station/C-Store
Marinas
Multifamily
Hospitality
Senior Housing
Mineral Rights
Litigation (there are many sub facets of this and probably one of the more difficult and under served areas)
Large Industrial and associated properties (chem storage, distribution, heavy manufacturing, ports, etc.)
GSA work (could be anything under the sun)
There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

 

[StayPuft]

I've appraised nearly everything under the sun on the commercial side and I now specialize in healthcare: large medical office, specialty medical, and hospitals. Ultimately, it is the way to go, but it might be a long road to get there unless you start in a specialty group as a trainee and put in a lot of hours to gain the experience needed. Also, specializing is very difficult for most property types unless you are in a big firm. The caveat is the eminent domain guys, but they often have to wait 3, 6, 9, 12 months to get paid on a job.

Other commercial specialties are:
Gas Station/C-Store
Marinas
Multifamily
Hospitality
Senior Housing
Mineral Rights
Litigation (there are many sub facets of this and probably one of the more difficult and under served areas)
Large Industrial and associated properties (chem storage, distribution, heavy manufacturing, ports, etc.)
GSA work (could be anything under the sun)
There are others, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

Forestland - need forestry expertise
ROW - both acquisition and valuation opportunities
Agriculture - NC is hog and chicken country. I know 2 appraisers who are licensed here and work in KY and NC charging $5000 or more per assignment for multi-million dollar farms.
Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are building intensive and take expertise and a dull nose to do...
Cropland is another agri specialty as is agricultural retail and service - fertilizer plants, feed stores, grain storage facilities, docks, etc. as well as personal property - tractors, etc. High dollar stuff.
Marine Surveyor - valuation of boats
Recreational appraiser - RV parks, marinas, etc.
Churches - a church appraiser has value to the church, as well as those who insure those churches

Excellent. Thank you both for the ideas.

 

[StayPuft]

As far as appraising goes, certain personality types are more prevalent in this business than others. If you're familiar with the Meyer-Briggs personality classification matrix we tend to get a much higher than average percentage of INTJ and ENTJ and related types than are found in the general public. Based on polling we've done here in the past something like half of us fit those profiles, which is pretty crazy when considering each only comprise around 2% of the general population.

Interesting, I took one of those "free" Meyer-Briggs tests and it came up with INTJ.

 

[George Hatch]

That's what I am. If you look at the suggested occupations and working environments that such people favor you'll see how well appraising fits it.