Yellow Book

[Michigander]

From those who have taken this course through the AI (Uniform Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions) has taken it helped your career at all if you are outside of the mortgage lending arena? Did you get work because you took it? There are a lot of courses I want to take to help me better position myself for the future, but there is only a limited amount of $ and time available, so looking at bang for the buck.

Any who have taken it and have experience, please share, and if you want to do so as a PM, please do so.

Thanks in advance!

 

[PropertyEconomics]

IF you are attempting to do work on Federal Land acquisition I would say its a mandatory class for you. It will also help in other arenas of condemnation work you may obtain as you expand your business. As a residential certified appraiser, it is doubtful much of that work will be coming your way since either certified generals or designated appraisers are typically retained for those assignments. If you are planning to upgrade your license level then I would think it a good course ... for residential work ... not so much.

 

[Michigander]

replied privately

 

[Michigander]

Are there any residential only appraisers out there that do condemnation work or is it strictly the venue of the certified general? If you as a cert. res do this work, please feel free to contact me via PM or post here.

 

[David Mescon]

I'm a residential appraiser. I have done a lot of commercial work in the past, including yellow book appraisals. All of the yellow book stuff I did, and all of the commercial, was with an MAI associate, (except for commercial work I did before there was licensing). I do, however, have experience with both condemnation and inverse condemnation of residential properties. It is difficult to get this kind of work without being a CG, and the majority of the people hired to do these assignments are designated, as well. Good luck.

 

[Michigander]

Thank you David, good information. It does sound like there is limited residential work in this arena, and that perhaps the appraisals are ordered in bulk by those who can handle both the residential and commercial side.

Appreciate the information.

 

[David Mescon]

One thing I forgot to mention is that in my personal experience, more often than not, the CG appraisers doing this kind of work are not particularly competent in the appraisal of the residential properties. This tends to make it pretty easy when the rubber meets the road, because I will use appropriate residential valuation techniques while the other guys often use inappropriate techniques, such as bulk land and subdivision development that just don't apply to that little four foot wide strip of land.

 

[Michigander]

One thing I forgot to mention is that in my personal experience, more often than not, the CG appraisers doing this kind of work are not particularly competent in the appraisal of the residential properties. This tends to make it pretty easy when the rubber meets the road, because I will use appropriate residential valuation techniques while the other guys often use inappropriate techniques, such as bulk land and subdivision development that just don't apply to that little four foot wide strip of land.

How are you able to even get the work as a CR? It sounds like it is very limiting without being a CG, even as a designated appraiser. Just curious. You can certainly PM me if you like so as not to open this to the world as a whole (unless you want).

Thanks so much for talking about this.

 

[Pittsburgh Pete]

One thing I forgot to mention is that in my personal experience, more often than not, the CG appraisers doing this kind of work are not particularly competent in the appraisal of the residential properties. This tends to make it pretty easy when the rubber meets the road, because I will use appropriate residential valuation techniques while the other guys often use inappropriate techniques, such as bulk land and subdivision development that just don't apply to that little four foot wide strip of land.

Have performed hundreds of appraisals involving residential properties for eminent domain purposes. While there may be those out there that don't do such assignments appropriately, your "more often than not" statement is BS. All appraisals performed for such functions are intensely reviewed with State and Fed regs in mind by qualified reviewers (either in house or from RW service companies). As a result, "inappropriate techniques" are rarely an issue.

Also, the vast majority of CGs I know "cut their teeth" on residential work. Residential is a good place to learn general theory and practice as the volume of sales is easier to deal with than in the commercial sector where oftentimes sales are few and far between.

But I'm sure you feel better for having posted this.

 

[Stone]

Have performed hundreds of appraisals involving residential properties for eminent domain purposes. While there may be those out there that don't do such assignments appropriately, your "more often than not" statement is BS. All appraisals performed for such functions are intensely reviewed with State and Fed regs in mind by qualified reviewers (either in house or from RW service companies). As a result, "inappropriate techniques" are rarely an issue.

Also, the vast majority of CGs I know "cut their teeth" on residential work. Residential is a good place to learn general theory and practice as the volume of sales is easier to deal with than in the commercial sector where oftentimes sales are few and far between.

But I'm sure you feel better for having posted this.

I agree with all of this, though I do that there are some less than competent ones out there. No way the "more often than not" tag fits.

Anyone looking to do this type of work has to be ready to deal with reviewers on every report. Unlike most residential work, the reviewers will contact you and argue over parts of the appraisal if they feel it is appropriate.

To anyone reading this, one of the things I mentioned in private is that anyone looking to do this type of work as a minimum should be taking the yellow book class.