With all of the uncertainties that exist inside the valuation profession, the understanding that appraisers will be challenged on a daily basis is the one thing that is for sure a certainty. At times, appraisers must feel like track and field athletes competing in field events as they look to, yet gain, successfully clear the professional hurdles in front of them.
But no matter how one categorizes these obstacles facing appraisers, the challenges are there and valuation professionals can either meet them head on positively with successful jumps to stay in the race, or give in to the mental frustrations and trip over such hurdles and eliminate one’s self from the competition.
Valucentric is a national real estate valuation firm employing both residential and commercial appraisers. The company is a partnership of successful valuation professionals who have united to build a brand signifying excellence. Valucentric is not an appraisal management company, but a firm that trains, recruits, and supervises staff appraisers. The company services a broad spectrum of clients, including lenders, credit unions, AMCs, attorneys, and property owners.
Three valuation executives from Valucentric – Leland Trice, Jason Goldberg and Tom Schurer – sat down to collaborate on matters uppermost on the minds of the appraiser telling Valuation Review specific challenges appraisers will encounter as they compete professionally. They also shared their thoughts on other topics related to those challenges.
A guideline appraisers must follow also introduces the idea of trainees; and whether or not such a tool is truly valuable for appraisers. The unwillingness, as it is perceived, by industry leaders, and lenders in particular, to accept or take on trainees is another hurdle for the profession.
Our experts from Valucentric, though, suggest that if one looks closely, there is a training program out there that is more than suitable.
“Fannie and Freddie, to their credit, recognize this and have a perfectly reasonable trainee policy. The industry needs FHA to follow suit. As chair of the Agency Relations Committee for the Collateral Risk Network, we recently had this very conversation with FHA at our recent meeting in Reston, Va. If FHA does change their policy to mirror the GSEs, then perhaps all or most Lenders will follow suit and the use of trainees will again become a normal part of the valuation industry,” the group said. “The Appraisal Foundation now has a supervisory appraiser class and states have very specific requirements on trainee activities. Ironically the situation is far more problematic for residential valuation. It is easier to utilize a trainee for a multi-million dollar commercial property assignment than it would be with a $50,000 townhouse appraisal.
“This (trainees) is certainly a personal business decision for each appraiser. We run a large firm with all employee appraisers,” the group added. “We have always viewed Trainees as a welcome and important part of our culture and business model. Frankly, the ability to teach and mentor someone without existing habits and pre-conceived notions about real estate valuation can be enormously beneficial. Taking on trainees is a long term commitment. It is also a more difficult scenario for solo appraiser practitioners that work out of their home. However, it is something our company believes in, and is committed to.”
That commitment would seem to be a major step in the right direction to bolster the appraisal industry. There are many who say the appraiser numbers are dwindling, so there has to be some compromise as to how to solve that problem, if indeed a shortage is actually a problem to begin with.
But no matter how well-trained one is, one cannot anticipate everything. If there are “surprises” along the way when appraising, it’s like any other job regarding what one should do. As our experts suggest, just deal with it.
“There are many surprises and things you are not prepared for in any industry. Ultimately, you must gain experience and learn from it,” the group said. “Real estate is an inherently cyclical industry and not everyone can mentally adapt to that. Perhaps another issue is that we are not always viewed in the ‘trusted advisor’ role. In the real estate lending arena, often the appraisal is just another barrier to cross to close the loan.
“We do substantial volume of work for Realtors, property owners, accountants and attorneys, who engage our services not because they are forced to but because they want and need what we can provide,” the group added. “If you wake up every day with a positive attitude and just ‘get after it’, you are 90 percent of the way there. Why are some appraisers more successful than others? Simple, they are more focused, they have a better attitude, and they are able to see through the clutter and stay true to the bigger picture.”