Should I Go For MAI?

[hal380]

Is hard to put so much personal information here, but you would not be able to answer me without some background.

Age 61
Yrs experience -5 yrs
License Cert. Res
Finances - Strong & stable, (everyone has a few bumps in the road)
Family - Kids grown and gone, married, wife is trainee.
Employment - work for self.

Currently I am accumulating "Commercial Hours" under a mentor who trained me in residential. I do want my General Cert. cus I think commercial is more stable and higher pay than Res. I want to work into my 70's to keep mentally sharp and for income.

Mentor is urging me to go for MAI. Wowzers 11 courses, 380 class hrs, demo report, and comprehensive 2 day exam. I'll be 68 by the time I finish. On the other hand I'll be 68 if I don't do it too.

Guess I could take one job a month @ $5k and live well. Or maybe I just could be a real good General Cert. and do 2 jobs a month @ $3k.

I would appreciate advise, thoughts etc. even a few wisecracks.

Thanks in advance

Hal

 

[Michigander]

go for it! you must have a college degree (4 year) into the equation.
I've never met an MAI who regretted it, and you will learn a lot in the process. It's expensive, time consuming and difficult to obtain. If it were easy, it would have no value.

 

[hal380]

Hi Rachel;

I do have a 4 yr and about 18 credits toward a masters, but not pursuing it for some time now. In writing my post, kinda crystallized my thinking, will work hard in the direction of the MAI, and will probably go for it. Like chicken soup, can't hoit.

Regards

Hal

 

[Scott Lanz]

Hi Hal,

I have been appraising for almost ten years now. Mentor was a good certified gen, and I think I am above average. Just started taking my 500 level courses. Have all the other requirements for MAI.

I think that even if you don't get your MAI down the road, the courses will make you a better appraiser, and provide for great contacts down the road. I have learned a great deal from the classes I have taken.

Good Luck on your Progress

Scott J. Lanz

P.S. I love your attitude, especially the part of "being 68 anyway".

 

[Michigander]

remember the demo. i run into appraisers every day who have "all the requirements" for their designation, except of course the experience reviews and the demo, and the comprehensive (meaning they have taken most of their classes).

 

[Restrain]

Here's one from the other side.

In my area, commercial fees for most properties have been beat down tremendously. A 100 page commercial report for $2500 is not uncommon. I do some commercial, but my clients want the UC form, and I charge less. The amount of work to do a commercial appraisal is such that I can make more doing single families.

So, I would recommend the Certified General (you can do BIG homes over a Million with no reviewer) and small commercial that you can make a decent living with. However, at age 61, I would not chase the MAI. I don't think you will be able to generate the business differential worth the effort.

Roger Strahan, IFA, General Certified Appraiser

 

[Luzette Eaves]

The MAI carries a lot of weight. Here in Rochester, lenders won't even talk to you about commercial work without one! I say go for it, you won't be sorry!

 

[Joker]

I have been CG for 8 years, don't even want the MAI. I work primarily for local lenders who could give $.02 what designation I have. They like my work and my turn time.

I agree with Roger. In my experience, the commercial appraisals pay a lower hourly rate than residentials. The market will only bear so much of a fee and it is the same whether or not you have a designation. The one thing being CG does do is HELP stabilize the work flow.

 

[Paul Ness MAI]

I think Luzette brings up the most important point, and that is the situation in your specific market. Is the MAI important in your market? Is your market rural or cosmo or mixed? Are there other MAI's in your market (will they be retiring soon) and are there any candidates currently working toward designation? If there are no MAI's in your market, that can be worse than too many because nobody would know what it represents and it would require some marketing of the designation.

If I were you, I probably would start down the path and take the classes for personal improvement and see where it leads you over time. It took me nine years to get my designation - two years for all the classes, six years of procrastinating and one year for the demo and comp exam.

 

[George Hatch]

In my opinion it really depends on what your priorities are and what types of work you like to do. If you aspire to appraise the trophy properties or work for the A-List banks or get involved with the really technical aspects of appraising, then you just about cannot get there without the MAI designation. If you are of a mind to hang out with the AI members in your area and you can see the benefit to joining their culture, then pursuing a professional designation will help you to do that. If you believe that you'll need the designation in the future as a means of ensuring your economic viability then you have little choice in pursuing it. Based on what I've seen in the market, the only professional designation in our industry that can demonstrate a loyal following among clients or a contributory monetary value in earning potential is the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute. That didn't happen by accident. This is not to suggest that the SRAs and RAAs and GAAs and ASAs and IFAs are without value or merit; only to say that I have yet to see any specific preference for appraisers with those designations in the market sufficient to quantify an increase in work or fees. How many SRAs have commented on this forum about considering giving it up because their costs outweigh their monetary benefits? I've never seen any of the IFAs or RAAs make that comment.

There's nothing wrong with starting down the path and taking the courses. You can always decide later where lies the point of diminishing returns. You may start off with the idea of merely taking courses and later end up deciding to get further involved. Actually learning more is never a waste.

Given your stated intention of essentially slowing down a bit ( which is what I eventually intend to do), I don't know how profitable - in terms of cash- it will be for you to join when compared to not joining. Membership has it's benefits, but it also has its costs.

I've been appraising commercial properties for 14 years now (no professional affiliations), and each year there are fewer and fewer inquiries as to whether or not I'm a designated appraiser. I think I may have been asked only 1 or 2 times last year, and I didn't lose either assignment because of the lack of AI affiliation. I've only ever caught up with my workload 4 or 5 times in all those years; most of the time I'm backed up at least 3 weeks. I'm not interested in doing the trophy properties or getting involved with the culture or any of the other benefits of designation so in my case I can see no advantage to it. Of course, I appraise the community oriented properties for the community oriented banks, so my situation is different than most. I like what I do and wouldn't choose another way at this time. Who knows, though? Times change and with it priorities can change, too.

Just as the value of pursuing the designation consists of more than a net monetary return, the cost of doing it also consists of more than the fees and time spent. I'd carefully weigh the two against each other to determine your individual point of diminishing returns.