President's Message, January 2024
Welcome, and thank you for reading my first President’s Message!
I don’t plan to write here every month because I’ll be putting that energy into participating in, encouraging and expanding our work for you, our appraiser community. In the coming year one of my priorities is to provide more and better information access to our members and chapters, including the quarterly reporting we’ve already begun, more straightforward communications about our challenges and opportunities, more video content and thought leadership, as well as opening up live and remote Q&A sessions. I will write here when something strikes me as important from my conversations with members of our community, visits to our chapters and trips to deliver the Appraiser-centric messaging we’ve promised. I write this from Washington, DC, where I’m preparing to testify to the House Natural Resources Committee to broaden opportunities for designated appraisers to work with the Department of the Interior.
I opened this note with “Welcome!” because it’s important to everyone to feel welcome and appreciated in our community. Of course you know you are welcome to read this President’s Message, because this is your professional home – but it’s still worthwhile and positive to remind you that I respect and appreciate your time and attention. This is the same way I feel about our chapter meetings. We are working hard at many levels to welcome the next generations of appraisers, and I am happy to report that we are seeing some success in these efforts! And while you may think it’s obvious to newcomers that they are welcome because of what we are saying and doing to attract a new generation of diverse appraisers, taking the extra step to make welcome anyone you don’t know at a chapter meeting is vitally important. Strengthening the human connection at the community level is one of the most important ways we will move forward together and advance our profession, and it’s an effort that can be advanced by everyone reading this message! You can be that warm welcome to another person who needs it.
How? Be ready to tell your story to anyone who shows interest in real estate – not just professional appraisal but all things to do with real property, and almost everyone has an interest in real estate. Think of how many times real estate comes up in social settings! Be ready to tell them what you do and how it’s essential to the health of our economy and to the opportunities created by home ownership and investment in real estate. If you serve in leadership in your chapter, renew and refresh your recruitment efforts, especially in terms of in-person, whether a chapter event or a career day. When you are successful, as you will be, in attracting new faces to chapter events, assign chapter members to make sure they are welcomed and introduced to other chapter members. If you see a new face at a chapter meeting – whether it’s just new to you or to the whole chapter – walk over with your hand extended and say “hello – I’m really glad to meet you.”
The Appraisal Institute is committed to helping you with all the above, and work is well underway to do just that. It won’t be long before you see the results of our efforts to better tell your story and to help you do the same in your communities and professional circles. In the meantime, let your professional pride and passion extend to welcoming anyone who is interested in learning more or taking the first steps to join our community.
Your friend,
Sandy