If You Could Do It All Over Again..

[Elliott]

Damon,

If I could live my appraisal life over, I wouldn't take
unusual assignments. People call and have a problem
property and you try to help, but there are lots of
pitfalls in unusual properties. I would not take an
assignment where a woman is suing an attorney
(attorney's fight dirty in malpractice suits--ie, they
turn your report in to appraisal organizations who
are not always competent in reviewing), or where
a loan officier wants to run a bed and breakfast as
a house (even though I made full disclosure and limited
the report, the LO altered the report and was a lying
sack of ....).

So in short, I'd only take assignments that were easy and
I'd walk away a lot faster when they start getting complicated.
I would be less trustful of lawyers, other appraisers, and
state boards.

With time, you learn where to draw the line with people, but
that skill takes experience and confidence from hard learned
lessons.

elliott

 

[Blue1]

Pamela hit the nail on the head! I would make sure I know ALL the rules and regulations. I would educate my clients as issues come up. The clients that become educated are the ones to keep.

 

[jtrotta]

jus my 13 cents worth;

contrary to Elliott - I would only take the complicated assignments; charge enough Benjamins to keep me happy :mrgreen: ; stay as far away from the hurry up jobs as I could/how kwik can ya turn em :rofl:
wheres dat attorney wit da problem

sounds to me like I shoulda bean a Commercial App raiser B)


seriously - my first boss was very persistent on understanding what it was ya needed ta know and made me read USPAP; Title VI; FNMA-regs; State Laws; etc. - and everytime we sat for review before shipping the report, he would quiz me. He was the best guy to learn from, I believe it was a "bad" experience he had gone thru, and didn't want anyone else to get into the same jam He was close to the first in our state to use computer technology (I still fight it once in a while) and we were years ahead of our competitors - now that I'm older, computers jus suck the life outa ya

oh well thats life, I suppose

h34r:

 

[jtrotta]

PS

then again, if it weren't fer computer technology, I wouldn't git ta enjoy the charaxteristics of all you fine people here on the Florum :mrgreen:


h34r:

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I would probably locate way up north somewhere.

Seriously, I think the only thing I would do differently would be to set my fees just slightly higher. The reports that we are generating now are certainly worth more than our current fees but at this stage, I don't want to change them.

We've made decisions all along that appear to be good ones as far as equipment, software, etc. go. It would be nice to have high speed internet but neither Judy or I would trade our homes location for that. We'll live with dial-up in our present woodland setting if that's what it takes.

By and large, I'm pleased with how we did things and the decisions we made in our startup.

 

[George Hatch]

Do it over again?

If I had it to do over again, I would have taken more education on real estate related subjects in college. Maybe even go for the graduate degree. Hmmm, maybe it's not too late....

Seriously, knowledge is power in our line of work. Not the power of arrogance, but the power of being able to recognize which of the many tools available are the right ones for the job at hand and then using those tools to attain the best results possible. The power to not waste inordinate mounts of time on chasing applications or defending applications that were incorrectly used. The power to assert the reasonable course of action and then defend it against all comers. Not in an arrogant way that serve only to antagonize, but in a calm and professional manner that contributes to your long term relationships. Knowing the rules and sincerely working by them puts an appraiser in control of their relationships.

The appraisal business is still a business. Being technically good is very important, but it isn't the only necessary skill. To have a successful business also requires a certain amount of self-discipline and motivation, and also requires some people skills. It's not always easy to deliver bad news and maintain a worthwhile relationship at the same time. Communication skills count.

Associating with my betters for years before I struck out on my own really paid off for me. I still share office space with a 35-year vetrano because experience counts. I benefit from that association as well as contribute my fair share.

On a more personal note, I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to different philosophies and lifestyles prior to getting into this business. As a result, I have always appreciated the old maxim "It's not how much you make but how much you spend that counts." Live within your means. Going for and keeping a minimal balance on the credit cards really helps to reduce the stress. Consumption beyond the essentials is a recipe for discontent. If I don't have the cash for a discretionary purchase I pretty much don't make it. I don't even buy stuff for my business unless I think I can make it pay.

Deciding early that I wasn't interested in running a fee shop was a plus. I like appraising, and while I have quite a bit of experience in supervising others, I knew that supervising appraisers is a lot more challenging than most other types of employees. I'm not interested in working 60 or 70 hours a week or having a short leash. Running as a lone operator, simply sharing an office and expenses with another appraiser allows me to have more resources at less cost. If my business dropped off 60% I'd still have no wasted expenses and I could still get by.

Having a lower overhead and requiring less gross revenue to make a profit also allows me to have a certain amount of discretion as to the types of work I do and the types of clients I have to deal with. I never solicit for clients at all, and I've never ever solicited a mortgage brokerage for work. I don't deal with mortgage brokers at all unless it's on a deal I know is going to one of my bank clients. Not having to dealing with those guys cuts my stress level down to the bone. I have no compunctions about saying 'no' to pretty much anyone if it looks like it will actually be a waste of time.

Restricting the types of work I take in turned out to be a plus. When I first started, I took in anything I was proficient to do because I was afraid to turn away work. I was looking to build market share and tried to be the one-stop shop; only restricting my work by not getting involved with stuff that was too far over my head to reasonably pull off uder competency requirements. That attempt to mix residential with commercial was useful in the very beginning because I did build market share. But it also came back to bite me later on because the requirements for turn around are different between the two markets. Residential clients are accustomed to having their appraisers on a pretty short leash. Non-Residential oriented clients recognize that it takes time to get a decent appraisal. Trying to manage a 3-week backlog of work gets complicated when a couple SFR appraisals get dropped into the mix and you have to make room for them. By limiting the residential work only to those assignments that are more complicated and are not profitable for most SFR guys/gals to take on, I could focus on the work that actually makes me money and fits with my program. I still lose money on those assignments, but I do them as a service for my clients; kind of like a loss leader.

Restricting my geographic area to predominantly the one county also turned out to be a big advantage. One set of data, more limited areas of travel, and more focus on the one geographic market all adds up to better quality work and less wasted effort.

If I had it to do over again, I would have refined all these elements as soon as I could. Whatever measure of successes I have enoyed have been in direct correlation with my execution of these elements.


George Hatch

 

[David Riggs]

Thanks, George. Your awesome

 

[Serge Paquette]

Mr. Riggs,

You are correct.

When I started out I would take commercial or single family work. Within 2 years, I cut out the residential side and that was smart. Never really had good training in that arena and never liked it much either. I'll still do a residential unit appraisal in a narrative format if the price is right, but that's not my target market.

 

[Damon Young]

shameless bump

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

I would have made it my first career.