Improving your financial management through cash flow forecasting Memorize this statement: “Cash flow is the lifeblood of all businesses. Without cash flow your business will die.” I stress this statement often when I talk to appraisers during conferences, meetings, and webinars. Why? Because you are a small business owner first… and an appraiser second! Appraisers do a remarkable job and take great pride in their appraisal work. I recommend that you also take this attitude and approach towards your appraisal business, particularly your cash flow. What Is Cash Flow Forecasting? Cash flow forecasting is defined as planning what cash will come into the business in...
Questions dealing with age and retirement… There is a lot of apprehension in the appraisal industry regarding from where the next generation of appraisers will come. There are not a lot of new people entering the profession at this time. To try to get a better idea of appraiser demographics, we asked a couple of questions dealing with age and retirement. First, we asked, “What is your age range?” This was a very popular poll with a near record of 6,885 responses. No big surprise that the most popular answer was 51-60 with 33% of the vote. This was followed...
The significant increase in insurance claims and disciplinary complaints against appraisers over the last few years is directly related to the foreclosure phenomenon and subsequent pattern of appraisal reviews performed during the last decade. The validity of both the process and results of these forensic reviews may have little relationship to the subsequent actions by those seeking the deep pockets of the appraiser and their insurance carriers to recover monies lost in bad loans. This trend shows no sign of diminishing. It remains incumbent upon appraisers to understand their errors and omissions insurance policies, any available risk management services available...
If you are doing too much and not being paid enough, you are a PERFECT candidate to hire and train a new appraiser. Three Ways to Reverse the Mass Exodus of Appraisers I was recently in Texas at yet another appraisal conference. The man who was speaking asked everyone to stand up. There were approximately 140 appraisers in the room. He then asked for those under 30 years of age to sit down. About five people did. He asked those under 40 to sit down. About 10 more did. Under 50. About 25% of the room was now sitting. Finally,...
AMC Declares Bankruptcy: What Appraisers Need To Know You received a letter in the mail informing you that your client has filed for bankruptcy. It is this moment you realize that this bad news just became your problem. Many of us are familiar with the recent bankruptcy filings of Evaluation Solutions and its subsidiary ES Appraisal Services. Peter Christensen, attorney and general counsel to LIA Administrators & Insurance Services, shared in his blog that the total unpaid fees to appraisers, agents, and brokers as listed in bankruptcy documents is $11,048,411.97! This is a remarkable amount. Evaluation Solutions’ bankruptcy documents accounted for...
There’s An App For That! Finance Management Apps For Your Appraisal Business Americans love their mobile devices! We use them to browse the Internet for information, text our families and friends, email our business colleagues, post statuses in social media platforms, and much more. To put things into perspective, consider the recent data provided by Business Insider. It shows the landscape of the US smartphone market, its popularity, and usage. Let’s look at the numbers. There are approximately 310 million people in the United States. Comscore.com says 114 million used smartphones in July 2012. Flurry.com reports that there are at least 165...
More than Half of Appraisers Responded They Get Clarification Requests from Clients Already Stated in the Report AppraisalPort Weekly Poll Analysis I receive a lot of e-mail from appraisers commenting about the time they spend working on requests for clarification on appraisals they have submitted to their clients. That prompted me to post two polls related to these client requests. The first poll asked, “What percent of your assignments result in a request for clarification from the client?” The results were a little different than expected with nearly half (45%) of the 4,691 respondents stating that they only get a...
Greatest risk: low fees or low cash flow? A Recent Report From Texas There has been a lot of buzz about the recent survey from Texas. The Texas Appraisers and Appraisal Management Company Survey published by Texas A&M Real Estate Center in conjunction with the University of Houston’s Hobby Center for Public Policy and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago reports the current condition of the appraisal industry in the state of Texas. 1,584 appraisers and 55 Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) doing business in Texas were surveyed and findings from the report were released to the public...
A British university professor has proved the old adage “time is money” in a 2002 article by CNN by creating the following mathematical formula: V=(W((100-t)/100))/C V = value of an hour W = person’s hourly wage t = tax rate C = local cost of living Ian Walker, economic professor of central England’s Warwick University, calculated this formula to show people that time actually IS money. This formula shows that day-to-day activities can be calculated monetarily to help you understand the value and costs of time. Consider the following. Brushing your teeth for three minutes = costs 45 cents Washing your car...
The New York Attorney General’s Office announced yesterday that it has reached a settlement with CoreLogic, as successor to eAppraiseIT, over the 2007 lawsuit filed against eAppraiseIT by then-Attorney General Cuomo. This was the case, of course, that led to the HVCC with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It also put the AMC liability train in motion, which has kept rolling since — resulting in significant lawsuits filed by both government agencies and private parties against a majority of the 10 largest AMCs. The NY AG noted that the lawsuit concerned approximately 10,000 appraisals in New York for WaMu in...
