"will Sombody Help Me" " Should I Continue Appraising As A Career"?

[devin]

Here's a cheerful story. A realtor commented on my antique clipboard the other day. It is very old and quite worn. I told her i bought it at a yard sale for 50 cents when i was thinking about becoming an appraiser in 2000. Then i told her i had a party for it when i earned my first million. She about fell on the floor. I said 'well it's been 17 years'. (i didn't tell her how long ago we had that party...)
Anyway, i agree the future of appraising will face challenges. But that has been true since i arrived here. And the key to any successful endeavor is to find something you love and do it with passion. I've had a number of downturns over the years but have also recovered from each by finding new and better clients and continuing to provide superior customer service and performance. I came from a fortune 500 job and don't want to do that ever again. and i am now old enough to go part time if i wish and still accept only the best work from the best clients.
But i think there is still an opportunity for good appraisers to provide excellent appraisals and resist the pressure of the AMC cost sacrifice. YMMV but i don't think it is a lost cause.

Here's a cheerful story. A realtor commented on my antique clipboard the other day. It is very old and quite worn. I told her i bought it at a yard sale for 50 cents when i was thinking about becoming an appraiser in 2000. Then i told her i had a party for it when i earned my first million. She about fell on the floor. I said 'well it's been 17 years'. (i didn't tell her how long ago we had that party...)
Anyway, i agree the future of appraising will face challenges. But that has been true since i arrived here. And the key to any successful endeavor is to find something you love and do it with passion. I've had a number of downturns over the years but have also recovered from each by finding new and better clients and continuing to provide superior customer service and performance. I came from a fortune 500 job and don't want to do that ever again. and i am now old enough to go part time if i wish and still accept only the best work from the best clients.
But i think there is still an opportunity for good appraisers to provide excellent appraisals and resist the pressure of the AMC cost sacrifice. YMMV but i don't think it is a lost cause.

Thank you, I like your story, it's enlightening. It's motivation for me. It's still some hope for us A/R guys out here.

 

[J Grant]

Many appraisers have ambivalence these days. I will say it seems very geographic specific as to what areas are getting higher fees and have a shortage of appraisers. If you are not extensively tied in to your present area, I would perhaps look at relocating to a state that has higher fees and a shortage. Those seem to be the only places an average skill cert res can command better fees simply for being available and competent. Another aspect you can explore is expanding your current geo territory into an "unpopular" area to appraise-such as rural/semi rural or an area with a lot of REO activity. Lenders really need appraisers to service these areas and will also give other work to appraisers willing to go there.

California is one of the worst areas re fees and AMC impact as they are predators and exploit any area with an ample supply or oversupply of appraisers.

I do not get a sense from your post that you are doing anything as far as education and skill set to set you apart from any other res license appraiser. In the "old days", ( a decade ago ), that was fine, going forward any res license only who does not pursue more education such as an SRA or statistics can find themselves left only with the dregs of AMC work..

I don't think it's totally a bleak picture, but appraisal is vulnerable to being in technology's path of change with so much "big data" available.

Long time appraisers still have some long term good clients /years of experience to draw on, but to typical AMC experienced means squat, since all they want is low fee and fast TT. The AMC intrusion has changed everything on the res side and not in a good way. It's better to recognize that and decide if you want to compete for AMC work, or ignore it..easy to say ignore it but one needs enough other clients or alt income to do so. It you are ambivalent and struggling now and not doing anything concrete to improve it such as moving to a needed area or pursuing education to improve skill set, you may be struggling long term, as appraisal field imo on res side will split to a smaller set of high skill appraisers doing complex work/ out of norm area work and the rest eking out a marginal living dealing with AMC type work which is getting worse, not better as far as fees and how it is assigned.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

I've never considered it a career, just ownership of piece of paper to operate a business. I'm currently using one of the 3 pieces of paper.

 

[J Grant]

Cindy's story is nice, but the past 17 years might not be anything like the future 17 years. The unease and ambivalence you are feeling is real, not imagined. Take steps to protect yourself and prepare yourself in every way possible, whether it is appraising full time, part time, or doing something else. I am heading within next few years into retirement or at least semi retirement. I feel bad for the younger generation as they face a far more uncertain future in almost any field outside of medicine or a "hands on" field. Keep a clear head as you make decisions and it's always good, if you are so inclined, to marry/partner up with a person with their own earning capability who has your best interest at heart. (hooking up with a loser will drain you, so keep that in mind too)

 

[Thomas Holding]

There is so much more to the appraisal profession than doing just residential or AMC work. There are so many different paths that you can take and still derive a sense of self worth, accomplishment, and freedom, all while earning a good living. It's like anything else in life, you just need to try a bunch of different things and discover the best fit for yourself. The best advise is to be willing to seek out as many new and different opportunities as your time (and finances) allow. When I started out appraising as a trainee 20 years ago, I never could have dreamed of all of the different aspects of appraisal that I have been able to learn about and eventually do myself. I started by appraising residential properties, moved on to commercial, worked for a company that specialized in property tax appeals, and did mass appraisal work for several counties. In the past several years I have learned how to program, to make my own data collection and analysis tools that automate most of the residential appraisal process, so that my wife (who is also an appraiser) can complete an appraisal much more efficiently than I ever could. She does no AMC work and loves residential appraisal. With just a few exceptions, I have thoroughly enjoyed my appraisal career, and would encourage others to give it a try.

 

[timd354]

So strange to me that some people think all or even most employees at fortune 500 companies are PAID and will retire wealthy.

So true. Many people who work at a lot of fortune 500 companies are low paid employees who don't make squat and there are very few fortune 500 companies that still fund a retirement plan so that most of their employees can retire wealthy. I read an article that the median income for a worker at a fortune 500 company is $77,800....I would guess that most of you make at least that much and you have a hell of a lot more flexibility than a typical fortune 500 employee. In fact, flexibility is the thing that I miss the most about being in the field

 

[J Grant]

That's actually what I'm doing know, I work for a fortune 500 company now, and appraise partime, but I desire to do it fulltime, but it's a matter of establishing good client base,. When I compare the work load I have at the fortune 500 company and compensation per week vs appraising workload and compensation per week, I like appraising a lot better, it's just from my experience, I can speak for everyone, I like the flexibility , but I know it has its times as well, but overall Appraising is fun , I love it.

Would have been helpful if you had posted that from the outset. Why is your info posted showing general public and not as an appraiser?

I assume it is mediocre pay at the fortune 500k company but good benefits. But benefits particularly health insurance are meaningful, an independent appraiser has none/all self paid. Imo, based on your posts, stick with current job and keep appraising part time. Amazing that you have the energy for both! But be realistic that as a part time appraiser with a plain vanilla res license in California, it is probably going to be AMC work, unless you are able to land a non AMC client.

Even 2 lousy pay $250 AMC jobs a week if part time is good extra income.

But I dont' know your situation and you are stingy with details. If you are married to a person who earns $, have kids, age etc. Working full time as appraiser offers flexibility and that has worked for me personally, but it comes at a price of lack of security/vulnerable to changes in the profession. I had other interests besides appraising so never pursued a cert gen license, but I would not advise that now, since times have changed with advent of AMC's . You have to ask yourself why a non AMC client would add you in CA since most already have a roster of well qualified appraisers. Without a special skill set or SRA seems geo specific , an area with shortages would be more realistic to get non AMC clients ( as well as better pay from AMC work)

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I told her i bought it at a yard sale for 50 cents

I paid several dollars for a couple of aluminum clip boards but that was over 30 years ago when I worked in the oil patch.

The best income is from doing specialty property. Get a specialty and go with it. Marketing still works. Think outside the lender box. Learn to write complex reports using spreadsheets and word processors.

 

[devin]

Would have been helpful if you had posted that from the outset. Why is your info posted showing general public and not as an appraiser?

I assume it is mediocre pay at the fortune 500k company but good benefits. But benefits particularly health insurance are meaningful, an independent appraiser has none/all self paid. Imo, based on your posts, stick with current job and keep appraising part time. Amazing that you have the energy for both! But be realistic that as a part time appraiser with a plain vanilla res license in California, it is probably going to be AMC work, unless you are able to land a non AMC client.

Even 2 lousy pay $250 AMC jobs a week if part time is good extra income.

But I dont' know your situation and you are stingy with details. If you are married to a person who earns $, have kids, age etc. Working full time as appraiser offers flexibility and that has worked for me personally, but it comes at a price of lack of security/vulnerable to changes in the profession. I had other interests besides appraising so never pursued a cert gen license, but I would not advise that now, since times have changed with advent of AMC's . You have to ask yourself why a non AMC client would add you in CA since most already have a roster of well qualified appraisers. Without a special skill set or SRA seems geo specific , an area with shortages would be more realistic to get non AMC clients ( as well as better pay from AMC work)

Thanks for the input, I don't know how I posted it but maybe I posted it the wrong way. Far as salary for fortune five I'm at $77,000 a year I guess it is mediocre for Southern California benefits are good license is certified residential and as far as what would make an on Lender want to add me to their panel I don't know I guess the same reason why they added my mentor when he was in the same situation that I was in. Its just by chance if I don't try I would never know. I'm definitely working on perfecting a niche.

 

[timd354]

Thanks for the input, I don't know how I posted it but maybe I posted it the wrong way. Far as salary for fortune five I'm at $77,000 a year I guess it is mediocre for Southern California benefits are good license is certified residential and as far as what would make an on Lender want to add me to their panel I don't know I guess the same reason why they added my mentor when he was in the same situation that I was in. Its just by chance if I don't try I would never know. I'm definitely working on perfecting a niche.

Yep. $77k/year won't get it done in Southern California with the cost of living there.