Comments on: College Degree for Appraisers?

By: Chris Yaecker

Chris Yaecker — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 20:09:10 +0000

In reply to Cate.

Nice job!

By: Chris Yaecker

Chris Yaecker — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 20:07:43 +0000

Before the real estate world collapsed in 2008, the mortgage industry including the appraisal “profession” was woefully unregulated. As a reviewer I was appalled at kind of people who called themselves appraisers and the trash they submitted as professional appraisals. Anyone could call themselves an appraiser and many did with disastrous results. However, not enough people in the industry or the government cared too much – times were good and values only went up – and billions in bad loans were written many with horrible appraisal reports. There were some very good lending institutions out there like Charter One Bank in Cleveland where I worked. They only hired college graduates with a variety of backgrounds and we were known as a top notch professional organization, and Charter One never had any significant default issues. Thank you John and Bud Koch. Until something better is devised like a degree or certificate program in which every new appraiser is required to attain then I think a four year degree is a must to maintain and expand professionalism in this industry. Changes are needed but going backwards is unacceptable.

By: bubba jay

bubba jay — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 01:11:44 +0000

anyone shouldnt have to get a four-year degree to do this job. maybe a two, but not a four. the problem is, the rule makers who are more than likely all college graduates themselves, think everyone else needs one too.

but here are the big problems that they havent figured out yet.

first, a four-year college graduate of anything worth a decent paycheck, will either find a job, or get offered a job, soon after graduation. the graduate will quickly take that job, because they are swimming in debt and they will feel the pressure to get that paid off, and they will also desperately want to get out of mom and dads house and be out on their own.

the graduate will start making good money, get settled, find a girl, get married, and start popping out a few puppies. the graduate will work all day, haul the kids around, come home to eat and rest for a few hours before bed, and then will do it all over again, and again, and again.

somewhere within all that, we are expecting the busy college graduate, who was trained to get a job and was never trained to be self-employed, to for whatever reason, want to be a RE appraiser.

lets assume the graduate hasnt heard about how much of a mess this profession really is, and still wants to do it anyway. the first big hurdle – they will have to find someone willing to train them. you know, someone willing to train their future competition. someone who will have to be with them EVERY step of the appraisal process. someone willing to do double the work it would normally take to do an appraisal on their own and someone willing to take half the fee for doing it. someone willing to assume more risk than they already have.

IF all that happens, the graduate will then be told about things like fee splits, and how they will make about half of the full measly fee the supervisor gets, or somewhere around $10-$15/hour after travel time, report writing time, all the revision requests, etc.. on top of that, they will be told about a training schedule, and, (depending on how much work they get), how they will have to do this for a very, very long time before they can do it on their own and get paid a decent wage.

the graduate will then be told about the cost of insurance, MLS fees, CE, licensing, etc, and they will soon figure out that the $10-15/hour they were taking home is suddenly much less than that.

do i really have to go on?

this IS how we make this profession attractive to new people? this is how we attract new people to this profession? this is how we stop the bleeding? this is a step forward? this is a step in the right direction? come on, SERIOUSLY?

By: Debby

Debby — Sat, 03 May 2014 18:39:32 +0000

What if you have over 20,000 hours as a licensed appraiser, 10 years under the belt, approximately 40+ hours of college credit, produce quality reports and yet the AQB says I have to take 3 other classes because you have to have 21 hours in the 7 subjects they require …. but if I had an Associates Degree in “How to Dig a Hole” I could get my Certification! I still say that “EXPERIENCE” speaks volumes in this profession … now I have until September to take these 3 classes (of course I have to take them from somewhere like Phoenix) at a cost of approximately $5,000, don’t qualify for any loans because I would have to pursue my degree to fall into that category. I would love to finish my degree, but that would entail me taking the courses they want me to take in their order … this would then cause me to forfeit my file at the State and have to pay another $450 to them after I get about 6 classes completed. This is completely “STUPID” at this point. I have worked hard, sometimes 20 hour days making a living, so my time to study is also limited. I don’t know how appraisers who work to pay the bills can have much spare time. All I wanted was to get this done before I had to forfeit my money that I already paid to the State. I called the AQB but they will not even return a phone call. I have written to them, they do not respond. I appreciate that a Degree might be helpful, but I have hours in Accounting, Statistics, English, etc …. they say they can’t accept those 40 hours, I still need Economics, Real Estate or Business Law and Financing. Of course, Accounting is a Finance class but they won’t accept because it is coded as ACCT! Again, they told me if I had an Associates Degree in “Interior Design” then I could get the Certification. Well, Interior Design does not have “Real Estate Law, Economics or Finance classes, so how is this right? At this time I have been trying to gather $5,000 to pay for classes, I don’t use credit cards, so I have been trying to borrow the money. Again, I don’t have $5,000 hanging around right now, property taxes were paid and IRA taxes were paid. Of course, I am sure there are all you out there that say … boohoo … but this is important to me and I believe that “EXPERIENCE” does matter in this profession. I want to pursue my degree before I die, but right now I need to get this done before the end of the year so I can finally get more work from lenders who require Certified Appraisers and also command more money from the AMC’s to get the work. VENTING…. and yes, I have applied for every time of scholarship there is available!

By: Hammad Khan on Facebook

Hammad Khan on Facebook — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 08:04:23 +0000

Good job keep it up , let’s make it more interesting by sharing our complex valuation experiences as a case study.

By: praisin' is fun

praisin' is fun — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:32:53 +0000

Worst idea ever.

So we (as a profession) want the ‘bottom of the top shelf’ college grads. Not the top of the class students but the ones that barely passed and not good enough for an entry level position in what they studied. We are becoming the ‘Bad News Bears’ profession, the last table at the local job fair. Cross your fingers too, 50% won’t pass the background check.

Broken toys need love too I guess…..

By: Retired Appraiser

Retired Appraiser — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 19:37:14 +0000

I agree that a college degree must be a MANDITORY requirement for becoming a residential appraiser today.

Why?
Because the vast majority of individuals with college degrees will have the intelligence to avoid this industry entirely.

Kudos to whomever was smart enough to protect new appraiser prospects from their own poor judgement.

By: Cate

Cate — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 01:58:04 +0000

I have a trainee license I will be taking my certification exam in a few weeks and when I found out I needed a degree to obtain my goal of being a Certified Appraiser, I went out and got a degree. I got my degree while working full time and raising two children along with running a household. Oh, I am 49 years old. It was not easy but it is very possible. I agree that the degree should not be in “basket weaving.” Maybe you should assist your employee by encouraging college and direct her in the appropriate classes to assist with her goal of becoming a Certified Appraiser. The college requirement is a step in the right direction for the appraisal industry.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:07:26 +0000

Respectfully, a college degree is not just another hoop to jump through. Certainly, there are unfound expectations from an unrelated degree relative to someone’s ultimate career. The other viewpoint to the thought of a degree pertains to a chosen or “professed” career. Look at other longstanding professions (i.e., doctors, lawyers, architects….) that choose a specific course of study. This is how potential appraisers should be looking to attain a professional status from a course of study. Unfortunately, other professionals have a very long history of professed study. There are relatively few academic institutions that incorporate appraisal theory in coursework. With time, persistence, and discipline individuals will commit early on in their academic pursuit of a real estate degree. Until then, please do not underestimate the proficiency of attaining a degree to fulfill appraisal licensing guidelines.

By: ma2804

ma2804 — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:06:46 +0000

I agree with your logic Dustin. I too have a BBA and MBA. I don’t consider them to be great advantages to properly valuing a house, but with a couple of caveats. Appraisers must be critical thinkers, logically oriented, and be able to write professionally to communicate with the reader. We need to be able to evaluate a neighborhood (improving or not, zoning, quality levels, values of amenities and how they apply to the subject, and other things that would fall into the “critical thinking” bucket of the addendum. I also would expect an appraiser to be able to write intelligently, not that everyone has to be a Pulitzer prize winning author but I’ve reviewed some appraisals that could have easily been written by a 9th grader. Sounding intelligent, using words that indicate a level of knowledge and professionalism, and some continuity in the addendum that allows it flow understandably, would be good. After all, we’re trying to be clear and create some trust in the user. That’s not to say you need a degree to do all this but I’ve found that mine have helped. Maybe aptitude tests or sample appraisals should be required before Certification or Licensing? …but a degree? A degree may be overkill, but it was an easy solution for those creating the rules