Appraisers are, perhaps, the most resistant to change in the valuation industry. Or at least they’re the most vocal about the change. According to Jenn Reese, managing director at Value Services, a nationwide property valuation company, communication is going to be the key to driving appraisal technology and efficiency.
“The first thing that appraisers need to do is communicate with their peers,” she said. “The residential appraisal profession is very segmented. Many appraisers work on their own or with a very small group and never learn to adopt new processes outside of their circle. In fact, residential appraisers very often work in solitude and consider other appraisers to be their competition as opposed to their peers. Each does things a particular way, and the attitude is that if you don’t do it the same way, you are wrong.”