What do you wear.

[Mister Ed]

Typical Dress...

Docker style pants, or neatly pressed cargo pants (I like the leg pockets for my camera).

Golf shirt or button up.

Shoes are typically cap toed Levi Docker brand (black or brown)


When I am appraising vacant land or farm land (I cover a very rural area) or REO's

The pants may be jeans and the shoes will be timberland high tops.

On large tracts of land, I carry a walking stick and a 9mm (have killed a few snakes with my walking stick and want to be prepared for wild boars or coyotes).

When outside because I have the Kojak look, I wear a golf cap.

 

[Vermonter]

Like anything else guys, it's market specific.
Shorts and Hawaiian shirts might be the norm some places. Just like a suit may be in others.

Currently, in my market, if you are wearing a suit or dressing like they do in a bank, there is no way you are doing a proper inspection (unless of course you ignore the site, outbuildings, basements, crawlspaces and attics or maybe your closet looks like a Mens Warehouse). Same goes for shorts and a t-shirt.
Most properties here are 100+ years old, on multiple acre sites and are rough by most standards. It requires durable gear. Carhart type pants and sometimes knee high muck boots. A collared shirt with company logo neatens it up nicely. Sometimes I'll wear khakis if I know the property is not a mess, but that's been increasingly rare lately.

Been called while at the hardware store on the weekend and showed up to inspect in paint covered shorts and a ripped t-shirt. I also made this very clear to both the client and homeowner before hand. Knew by the area I was going that the homeowner wouldn't care, but the out of state client might have. Would it have been more professional to push them off until a weekday and show up in work attire? Probably, but that wouldn't have been good customer service either.

I have also worked in markets where a suit would have been more appropriate and there are appraisers that wear them here. Unfortunately, when I'm inspecting properties they've inspected I always get the same comment:
"The last guy didn't look at any of that."

Gee, wonder why?

 

[Ty Sutton]

Some of you guys are harsh. Thanks for the replies. I wear long pants and a golf shirt on inspections no matter what the property type is - religious facilities, restaurants, industrial buildings, office buildings, etc. Definatley don't show up in a coat and tie, but I don't show up in shorts and flip flops either. To each his own I guess.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I think all appraisers should be required by USPAP to wear the same uniform;

preferably those of the US Womans Beach Volleyball Team.​

 

[Mister Ed]

I think all appraisers should be required by USPAP to wear the same uniform;

preferably those of the US Womans Beach Volleyball Team.​

You should model one and post it on the forum for us!

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

I wear shorts and a button down cotton open shirt about 7 months out of the year.

 

[Riick]

In the distant past I tried tp look professional - it cut down on the HO complaints.
But, with low-end, non-professional fees, come low-end non-professional clothes.
.
I seriously draw the line at swimsuits, especially beach-volleyball Bikiniswoohoo, especially in the winter.
.

 

[David Beasley]

Same old question, same old answers:

Summer: "Golf shirts", in good shape, neutral colors. Columbia, Izod, Nike and other makers have some great looking pieces out there that are hi-tec and keep sweat to a minimum, wick very well, etc. Casual pants (Columbia, Duck Head, etc), usually khaki in color. Shoes are slip on "moccasin" types, I wear Merrills. They're similar to suede or newbuc and appear dressy, while at the same time are easy to take off and put on so I can not "track up the house" or in the cases of Asian occupants, meet their wishes that no shoes are worn indoors period.

Winter: Same, except for long sleeved "golf shirts" or a nice sweater over the same collared short sleeved shirts from the summer wardrobe.

Exceptions: I will sometimes wear shorts (cargo, khaki-type) and tennis shoes in the heat of summer if I am doing new construction or REO homes that are known to be empty. No t-shirts though. The only time I dress that "down" would be an "office day" where I am not going out into the field at all. I guess I do occasionally wear t-shirts, technically "under shirts", under my golf shirts when it is going to be 100+ deg and 99% humidity outside, to keep the sweat stains to a minimum.

I don't personally recommend dress clothes, slacks, shirts with ties, coats, especially the typical slick soled shoes that go with that level of dress...as measuring homes is rough on clothes (brick corners, "gotcha bushes" (holly, roses, and other prickly species)) as I am simply an appraiser and cannot afford to continually replace that price level of clothing.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

You should model one and post it on the forum for us!

I tried but the parental control software kicked in :Eyecrazy: so this illustration had to suffice.

 

[Thomas Fiehler]

All good replies BUT the hidden question is what do you drive while wearing your work clothes!