President's Message
Greetings Members,
October flew by, bringing devastating hurricanes that affected millions of people, including Appraisal Institute members and families. My hometown, Punta Gorda, FL, experienced flooding twice in an eleven-day period; fortunately, my home was spared, for which I am grateful. The Appraisal Institute Education and Relief Foundation is dedicated to assisting members that are facing financial needs due to these storms. Please utilize this resource and let us know how we can further assist you.
The officers’ travel schedules have been filled with industry and stakeholder events, and the installation of chapter and national officers. A highlight for me this month was hosting the interview of PAREA graduates at The Appraisal Foundation’s Board of Trustees meeting in Denver. Lisa Piancone and Chris Tindal, two of the first PAREA graduates, were in person to share their PAREA experience. They fielded questions on their journey through PAREA and the appraisal licensing process. Their answers were candid and a tribute to the program. A huge thank you goes to these two graduates who passed their state exam on the first attempt. The feedback from the Board of Trustees was overwhelmingly positive, and the PAREA Team deserves a huge shoutout for the success of the program. Chris is working with an appraiser in San Antonio, and Lisa is starting her own business in Georgia. We wish them the very best.
PAREA Scholarships
On September 30, TAF announced a commitment of $1.22 million over three years to establish the Pathways to Success scholarship to support the costs of PAREA program fees. The Pathways to Success scholarship will be administered by the Appraisal Institute as part of the Appraiser Diversity Initiative. It will cover 100 percent of the costs to enroll in an approved PAREA program. The Pathways to Success PAREA scholarship application is expected to be released in Q1 of 2025.
This multi-year scholarship is the second phase of TAF’s Pathways to Success initiative, which began in 2021 as a conditional grant to the Appraisal Institute in support bringing a PAREA module to market. In 2023, the Appraisal Institute delivered the first approved PAREA program and we celebrated the first graduates earlier this year.
The Appraisal Institute, along with our partners, appreciates the outstanding dedication to the next generation of aspiring appraisers!
Virtual Membership Meeting
The Appraisal Institute will hold its annual membership meeting and board actions report on November 22, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. CT. Our interim CEO John Udelhofen and the Officers will be presenting updates and will conclude with a Q & A session.
In the past, this meeting has been combined with a conference or with a Joint Regional Meeting. This year, as we are not holding an annual conference, a virtual meeting will serve as our platform. It is very important that we maintain regular communication with all our members. Register to receive the link to the meeting and join us!
Marketing Your Appraisal Business
Recently, Paula Konikoff and I spoke with Heather Placer-Mull, a national Director, about marketing an appraisal business. Heather, who has a thriving business in Virginia because of her great marketing and analytical skills, agreed to share her marketing tips with us. Below are the key points she shared. To receive more detailed information on how to market your business, watch this video here. A huge thanks to Heather for sharing her secrets.
Key Points
- Marketing is essential to our business; we should all be sellers of our services. Heather uses the motto ‘think like a salesperson.’
- Differentiate yourself from other appraisers. It is important to develop relationships with colleagues and those in the real estate ecosystem. Referrals come from connections. If you are not attending your Chapter functions, you are missing out on the opportunity to network with your colleagues and build referral avenues for your business.
- There is value in being the only appraiser in the room and if you are not, know what sets you apart. Do you specialize in a particular property type? Are you a designated member of the Appraisal Institute? If so, what is the value of hiring a designated appraiser?
- Make marketing a business function by setting aside time to market yourself. Spending one hour a week on marketing can make a difference in growing your client base.
- No matter what your specialty is, commercial or residential, make it a point to know colleagues specializing in other property types. This will build your network of colleagues for referrals. The ideal place to develop good relationships with colleagues is chapter meetings.
- Have paper or digital cards and a company pamphlet that can be shared with potential clients. If you are not comfortable putting a company pamphlet together, it is worthwhile hiring someone to assist you. Make the pamphlets available on your website.
Lunch and Learns
Interim CEO John Udelhofen will be starting a series of “lunch and learn webinars” on growing and operating your business. John has successfully started businesses and consulted with business turnaround matters. His vast experience in growing a business is an added benefit to membership. If you have some marketing tips you would like to share, please send them to us.
Advocacy
The Officers, our D.C. Staff, and our outside lobbying firm are continuing to advocate for streamlining appraisal licensing through the Portal for Appraisal Licensing (PAL) Act (H.R. 5657/S. 2692) . We continue to voice our concerns about abuse of appraisal waivers, the use of unregulated Property Data Collectors (PDC) and the lack of transparency in the reporting of appraisal fees separately from appraisal management fees in closing statements. We have been reaching out to our partners to form a louder voice to fight the challenges in the valuation profession. We are pushing back on false claims of bias found in recent fair housing ads promoted by HUD and the National Fair Housing Alliance. The 2024 Elections will usher in a new wave of changing real estate, mortgage, tax, and financial regulatory policies that we will be at the forefront of. Look for a more extensive article in this week’s Appraisal Now newsletter with analysis and updates from Scott DiBiasio, Director of Government Affairs.
Disputing Fair Housing Billboard Ads
Recent billboard ads promoted by the National Fair Housing Alliance, funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, vilify the appraisal profession and misinform consumers about the appraisal profession, according to op-eds submitted by the Appraisal Institute on November 11. The op-eds correct for the record the consumer protections associated with the appraisal process and dispute claims of bias and the portrayal of appraisers in the advertisements. The op-ed concludes government resources “would be better spent educating consumers on the importance of hiring qualified real estate appraisers and collaborating with industry professionals, rather than undermining a data-driven profession that has always prioritized consumer interests and the public trust.”
Op-eds were submitted in markets where billboard advertisements have been identified – Denver, Colorado, Norfolk, Virginia, and Rapid City, South Dakota and will be submitted in any other identified market.
Market Conditions Adjustments
On November 6, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued joint updates to their respective selling guides relating to the selection of comparable sales and adjustments to comparable sales. The guide change reinforces fundamental concepts of market analysis and providing support for adjustments. The Appraisal Institute maintains a bevy of guidance material on these subjects, including guide notes, webinars, and seminars. A “home-grown” seminar on this subject has been a popular offering over the past year.
The changes also illustrate the sizable increased scope of service request involved with appraisals sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It is not a stretch to say the scope of service request involved with GSE appraisals is larger than it has ever been, and this is before any additional “scope creep” resulting from lender interpretations, overlays, or illustration and data requests attributable to compliance with the mandatory “guidelines.”
Let us not forget that your time, expertise, and analysis is valuable - charge what you are worth!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Your friend,
Sandy Adomatis, SRA