AI courses and events calendar announced for 2013

The Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute has announced its courses, seminars, and events schedule for 2013. As the acknowledged worldwide leader in residential and commercial real estate education, the extensive curriculum of courses and specialty seminars provide sound instruction for the beginner and experienced practitioner alike. In addition to appraisal practitioners, all industry participants, including banking, life company, public and private sector practitioners, underwriters, and analysts, are all invited to attend. For the month of March offerings include: General Appraiser Income Approach (March 13th-16th), Basic Appraisal Principals (March 27th-30th), and Marketability Studies (March 26th). The March 26th seminar, Marketability Studies: Advanced Considerations & Applications, will be offered at the Crown Plaza in Woburn, Mass. This is a follow-up to the highly successful Marketability Studies: Six-Step Process and Basic Applications held last October. This seminar will provide practical, hands-on training for experienced appraisers in the development and application of level C market analysis in valuation appraisals. Participants will bring laptops to class to solve specific problems relating to market analysis (i.e. supply/demand) as well as applications of market analysis to highest and best use and valuation. This seminar will provide the tools necessary for using advanced market analysis techniques to measure and support valuation analysis throughout the appraisal report, as required by USPAP and appraisal methods ). In April, offerings include: 7-Hour National USPAP (April 5th), 15-Hour National USPAP (April 11th-12th), and specialty seminar, International Financial Reporting Standards for Appraisers (April 16th-17th). The latter is a two day seminar that will help valuation professionals understand the relevant parts of the International Financial Reporting Standards that affect the valuation profession, including the use of common standards, terminology, and definitions. By working through international case studies, participants will learn the procedures for conducting fair valuation of fixed assets for financial reporting and how to conduct a test for asset impairment. May offerings include: Basic Appraisal Procedures (May 8th-11th), General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach (May 15th-18th), 7-Hour National USPAP (May 23rd), and Real Estate Finance, Statistics, and Valuation Modeling (May 31st). Additional offerings for the balance of the calendar year are detailed on the Chapter website: www.ma-appraisalinstitute.org/ as well as the national website: www.appraisalinstitute.org/. Finally, as a result of our merger with the R.I. Chapter, we are currently working on bringing a variety of offerings to Southeastern Massachusetts and R.I. Please stay tuned for dates and locations of a Residential Sales Comparison and Cost Approach (2-day) and a Residential Income Approach seminar to serve our colleagues in southern New England. The first meeting of the Candidates for Designation (C4D) took place on February 28th at the Federal Reserve Boston. At this meeting candidates met with potential advisors and learned the details of the C4D Program from Ken Dicks, Chair of the Candidates Advisory Committee. All declared candidates are reminded to submit the name of their advisor to the national AI office by March 15th. If there are any questions at all regarding candidacy, questions may be directed to Ken Dicks or Lianne Andreucci. In terms of other chapter news, please look for upcoming new features on the local Chapter website. There will be a page specifically dedicated to the Rhode Island Branch Chapter and its events and local offerings. Also, the Candidates for Designation (C4D) Resource page will include links to vital information for Advisors as well as Candidates. All upcoming local education is listed on the Calendar section of the website. Also, on March 15th, volunteers will be at the Boston Food Bank donating their time for the Jay Zeiger Service Day. This is an annual event we do in memory of Jay who was an active member of the Appraisal Institute and good friend to all of us. This year's event will also be dedicated to the memory of Paula York, a candidate, friend, and well respected appraiser in the commercial real estate industry. On May 1st, the Mass. and R.I. Chapter will host the ASA for a joint meeting and networking event. We look forward to seeing you there! Like the above educational and networking events, the Appraisal Institute offers numerous timely programs, courses and seminars throughout the year. AI is a global membership association of professional real estate appraisers, with nearly 23,000 members in nearly 60 countries throughout the world. Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. Our members benefit from an array of professional education and advocacy programs and may hold the prestigious MAI, SRPA, and SRA designations. We thank our 2013 Premier Sponsors, Joseph J. Blake & Assoc., Inc. and CBRE, for their continued support, which helps in producing quality education and events. Please join us for the upcoming joint meeting with the ASA on May 1st. Check it out on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute website. We look forward to seeing you there! Karen Hanlon, MAI, MRICS is the 2013 president of the Mass. and R.I. Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and executive managing director of Centurion Global Realty Advisors, Boston, Mass.