President's Message, November 2023
Dear Appraisal Institute Colleague:
Last week, my family and I gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way that I’m sure many of you did – with a large turkey dinner, some football, and a long chat next to a cozy fireplace to help take the chill off the fall weather in South Dakota. It’s a longstanding tradition for our family, and likely for yours, too. The image to the right is from 1970, though it seems like only yesterday.
In the spirit of coming together for the holiday season, I want to recognize what I’ve called a “season of change” within the Appraisal Institute. As I’ve shared at many chapter meetings over the past several weeks, the Appraisal Institute is turning the page on a transformational new chapter and I’m excited for you to see what’s coming. This has been a monumental year for our organization, and I know it will result in great things for the profession as a whole.
Read on to learn more about the progress we’ve made in the past month and what to expect in the months ahead.
AI Board of Directors Approves Plan to Promote Designations
The Appraisal Institute Board of Directors during its Q4 meeting held earlier this month approved an organization brand promotion and awareness plan in which all dues-paying Designated Members will have the opportunity to receive a new designation emblem pin or charm that reflects the AI brand redesign. The pins and charms will be available, at no cost, through March 30, 2024. Designated Members will receive instructions for obtaining the pins or charms in the near future.
The Board also authorized the creation of a marketing and awareness campaign that will highlight the value of all Appraisal Institute designations with an emphasis on the SRA designation and the contributions and needs of residential appraisers.
Read more about the actions of the Board at their Nov. 9-10 meeting on the AI website.
President’s Council Meets to Discuss Future of Valuation
On Nov. 8, I was proud to host leaders from the world’s largest appraisal firms at our annual President’s Council, an advisory group that identifies collective opportunities in commercial real estate valuation and advisory practices. The President’s Council met to discuss the future of commercial real estate valuation, including the topics of artificial intelligence and machine learning, environmental and sustainability issues (ESG), and “valued added” services that can be provided by valuation professionals to real estate investors, developers, financiers, and government agencies. The President’s Council recommended the AI play an active role in education development, thought leadership, and professional member support on all three issues.
Executive Committee Shares Valuable Updates with Chapters and Thought Leaders
As I did in last month’s President’s Message, I’d like to share an update on the travels of the Executive Committee. Each of these offers us an opportunity to engage key stakeholders and keep our chapters abreast of the ongoing changes throughout the orgnaization and to maintain our position as the thought leaders in the valuation profession:
- Iowa Chapter Meeting
- Southern California Chapter Litigation Seminar
- President’s Council Meeting
- North Star Chapter Meeting
- National Association of Home Builders Mortgage Roundtable
- Hampton Roads Chapter Meeting
- National Association of REALTORS ® Annual Conference
- NorCal Chapter’s 73rd Annual Fall Conference
- Seattle Chapter’s 17th Annual Fall Real Estate Conference
I was asked to present to the NAHB Mortgage Roundtable in New York City on the issue of artificial intelligence and the impact on the appraisal and mortgage processes. I took this opportunity to highlight the critical need to engage highly trained professionally designated appraisers. To round out our recent travel, it has been a pleasure to see familiar faces and make new connections at these meetings and I look forward to many more as we close out the year.
Valuation of Senior Housing, Nursing Home and Hospital Properties Examined in New AI Book
I’m proud to share with you the news of the latest book from the Appraisal Institute, titled, “The Appraisal of Senior Housing, Nursing Home, and Hospital Properties.” The book explores these properties from physical and economic perspectives and provides an up-to-date set of tools for determining the productivity, marketability, feasibility and value of this growing real estate sector.
Written by authors James K. Tellatin, MAI, Vic Cremeens, MAI, Bradley J. Schopp, MAI, and Hollis C. Taggart, the broad scope of topics covered makes this text valuable for many real estate professionals, including lendres, equity investors, operators and more.
Learn more and purchase the book.
Craig Steinley, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, AI-RRS
President