Starting an Appraisal Business

[Terrel L. Shields]

You are young enough that you can take a big risk, and take on the task of a start up, and if you fail (which you would do within 2 or 3 years normally) then you are far from "over the hill". Us geezers cannot take such risks as we approach retirement and you will see on this board over the next 1 to 5 years a slew of us are gone. Thus, I think your chances of success are quite good. Working the governmental angle would also be a great plus. Concentrate on non-bank clients.

 

[TianaR]

I appreciate everyone's' feedback. Believe it or not my name is unisex in my parents native country and I am a male. I can definitely try to utilize my minority status to try and get government contracts etc. It's a risky proposition but I think I need to try my hardest to do this because I think that I will kick myself later on in life if I don't try.

Thank you guys for the support!

 

[Michigan CG]

........... I can definitely try to utilize my minority status to try and get government contracts etc..........

Wouldn't you rather gain government contracts and other work based on your quality of product? I admire you getting the MAI, let your work stand on its own in comparison to your peers instead of trying to manipulate the market.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

Given that you have a MAI designation, you shouldn't have an issue building your own business. I went from being partially dependent on others to completely independent in less than a year simply by getting my commercial license. The key, as always, is to find your niche and market to the right people.

 

[TianaR]

Wouldn't you rather gain government contracts and other work based on your quality of product? I admire you getting the MAI, let your work stand on its own in comparison to your peers instead of trying to manipulate the market.

Absolutely. I was just touching on a point that there are avenues due to my minority status. The current clients I service have many internal/external quality controls in which standards are very high plus my market area in general is highly competitive. I estimate there are around 300+/- MAI's within my immediate market area. The sub-par appraisers will not make it.

 

[TianaR]

Given that you have a MAI designation, you shouldn't have an issue building your own business. I went from being partially dependent on others to completely independent in less than a year simply by getting my commercial license. The key, as always, is to find your niche and market to the right people.

Thanks David! I appreciate the insight. As a fellow New Yorker I'm sure you know how competitive our market area is.

 

[PL1957]

Wouldn't you rather gain government contracts and other work based on your quality of product? I admire you getting the MAI, let your work stand on its own in comparison to your peers instead of trying to manipulate the market.

IMO, you should use every resource you can when starting a business. Many contracts have small business or minority set asides. Regardless of whether you think such set asides are right, the OP should use every tool at his disposal to establish himself.

 

[GregoryK]

You know we appraisers are very good at market analysis until it comes to analyzing the market for our services. I once looked at several cities in the Midwest I thought I might like to relocate. I started using the number of appraisers per capita, along with median by I incomes. Sometimes markets you think are competitive are not so much. Others may be dominated by one or maybe a few large firms. Others can be very fragmented. And then there's Chicago ...

 

[sharktank]

IMO, you should use every resource you can when starting a business. Many contracts have small business or minority set asides. Regardless of whether you think such set asides are right, the OP should use every tool at his disposal to establish himself.

I agree with this. Although I personally disagree with government forced carve-outs for minorities, women, or really anyone (I think people should compete on quality of their product or service, not the color of their skin or their plumbing).

That being said, I think you should take advantage of every advantage you can in business, and in life. Don't cheat, but if you happen to have a completely legal advantage, use it.

A wise man told me when I first started in my current career "you don't get paid for degree of difficulty." In other words, don't make things harder on yourself than they have to be. Some of us are the right color or sex, some of us have trust funds, and some of us have none of the above.

Go get yours regardless.