What Changes - Personally?

[Willie]

I decided to start fixing houses - I left appraising after 17 years .... Now I go around and find deferred maintenance and get rid of it.

Got a job taking care of 37 rental houses - doing electrical, plumbing, heating and Air-conditioning ... repairs along with tiling floors - picking up trash ....

Anyways .... its good to be back in the forum after about a year and half off.

Hope you guys are on your way to finding solutions and new directions in the appraisal field ....

I will be limited to talking here as I visit the library for internet access -

Have a great year!

David, I must tell you, that you have been missed. I hope you are doing much better. You have a small child, now, if memory serves. Hope life is going great for you all.

Richard, this is a year of transition for me, and I'm still a bit undecided as to which path to go. I've narrowed it down to more acutely perfecting a fairly well honed residential mortgage appraisal practice out of necessity, moving back into commercial work, and or getting out and doing something altogether different. My slowest December in 15 years demands that I look at alternatives, within and out of this field.

If I could get the right price for my real estate, I would love to semi quit too, but don't see it happening. I don't envy your age of retirement, but do envy your retirement. Congrats.

 

[Dutchman]

Now that my daughters are both certified, my New Year's resolution was to let them have the business and all the "fun' that goes with it. I am off to make real money . I have become an avid gold prospector and look forward to many days playing in the creeks and mud and accasionally finding some gold. Best of all, no more phones and no more "clients' to **** me off. Sunshine and outdoors, I've been waiting for it all my life.

 

[liznindy]

I plan to continue my 'soul-searching' as to how I can stay in residential appraising (which I happen to really like) ...


I am beginning to believe that I will need to get a part time job (outside of appraising) to supplement my appraising income.

As for personal, my husband and I have been thinking of moving out of the metro area to a more relaxed, slower pace in southern Indiana....down by the river (though no trailer for me).

I would love to do that this year but aging parents and (2) grown children needs always seem to postpone our wishes....I may need to wait a few years

Patience is a virtue?!

 

[Mike Boyd]

Until this profession of Appraiser can clean it self up for the residential division, I can see no real future in earning a living with out a lot of hours invest with very little return, at least in the rural areas. McDonalds and Burger King in our area pay starting wage of $15 per hour and benifits. If I were younger might look at compleating my CG Test and moving more into the commercial area. So be it at my age it is time to pull the plug and enjoy the remaining years.[/FONT]

$15 per hour for flipping burgers? That's twice what they get in CA.

 

[xmtpedprl]

$15.00??? Burgers? Flipping?

I think I need to have a chat with my newly (and first time) employed daughter, she took a job for half that selling clothes at a local mall!!!

;^)

Dave...

 

[Willie]

$15.00??? Burgers? Flipping?

I think I need to have a chat with my newly (and first time) employed daughter, she took a job for half that selling clothes at a local mall!!!

;^)

Dave...

Just make sure you tell her not to let her customers take a bite and hand it back.

 

[Ray Miller]

$15 per hour for flipping burgers? That's twice what they get in CA.

I am willing to say that most of the employee's in the Dells area are from overseas. A lot not only get a good wage they also get room and board and in some case get fed while on the job.

Was at an auction, as well as a real estate CE and all the waiters and waitress were from Russia, about 20 of them running around the dinning hall those days.

 

[xmtpedprl]

You are sooooo right.

We own a property up in Christmas Mountain (just 4 miles outside of the Dells), and I have been going up there ever since I was a tot. I know every inch of the Dells, Baraboo, Lake Delton, that whole area, by heart, and love it. And yeah, they come in by the droves for the busy months.

But I didn't know they paid *that* much!!

Dave...

 

[Tony Lehn]

A personal goal for '08? To get out of appraising.

I had to get that off my chest. WOW! Do I feel better already!

 

[Ray Miller]

You are sooooo right.

We own a property up in Christmas Mountain (just 4 miles outside of the Dells), and I have been going up there ever since I was a tot. I know every inch of the Dells, Baraboo, Lake Delton, that whole area, by heart, and love it. And yeah, they come in by the droves for the busy months.

But I didn't know they paid *that* much!!

Dave...

Winter pays a bit better then the summer season.


I use to own the stables that once were at Christmas Mountain, put in the horse drawen wagon and sleigh ride dinners out to the log cabin just off the golf course and camp grounds back in the ealy 90's. Took that little stable when it was making $500 a week for 8 weeks out of the year to $45K a month year round after I bought it. Then sold it. The guy that bought it was broke with in two or three years, he was running around playing big shot and not putting the work it took into it. They still owe me around $35K, but he moved to Ark. Todd Nelson Sr. who son Todd Nelson, Jr. owns Kalaharie, co-partnered with a guy when Christmas Mountain choose not to lease the land any longer to the stable. It still goes by the name "The Ranch or The Ranch at Christmas Mountain." There land is the land from county trunk P north to the Christmas mountain boundry, just under all those big fancy log homes for the owenr from the big city have as vacation homes.

When we put in the winter program at the Dells, it was the foundation for what has turned into a winter play ground. When I fist got there every one said you will not do business in the winter months with a stable. I partnered up with another motel for winter programs to the ski areas (Devil Head, Christmas Mt., Cascade) We built packages around sking and sleigh rides. Then I went on to partner up with Todd Nelson Jr. when he own the Pizza Pub and Brother-in-Laws for advertising specials in the winter months. My business associate from KC (Howard Benjamin) try to buy ole Fort Dells and what is Black Barts to put in a country music show and dinner theater. But the locals would not let us buy or should I say would not sell to outsiders at that time. We tried for over a year to get some land in side of the Dells, but to no avail. Then with in a year, Thompson opened Black Barts and the Crystal Grand Country Music Theather went in all localy owned. Todd and I use to talk about the winter programs that the Dells needed where we worked out every morning at the gym. He then started his planning for what he has now. Has now sold the Pizza Pub and Brother-in-Laws and just working on his water parks around the country.

Might add that Canyon Creeks owners would come out in the 90's for three summers and winters and watch our horse operation. Just sit in the parking lot for hours watching what we did and how we did it. You can see what they have now. Same for Bud Potter and his E-Z-Roll Stable he put in after I sold out.