Steven Elliott, Elliott Gottschalk & Associates

So every year Jeff Keller at the New England Real Estate Journal gives me a call around this time to write about the upcoming expo and anything else on which I care to expound, so here goes. Not much to say about the Sox. They gave it a good run but I think that 11-game winning streak was their peak and though it got them the division, there wasn’t much left in the tank. Mr. Brady is back, good thing, and the Celtics look very promising. Jury is out on the Bruins. However, back to the expo. Twenty-six years and still going strong. October 24 at the same place it has been for the past several years, the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Norwood, Mass. Another great lineup put together by MBREA and the Mass/RI Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. It is not easy and both organizations should get a big pat on the back for their efforts and ability to get both timely and informative programs for both residential and commercial appraisers. The morning program for both groups will be the chief economist for Freddie Mac, Sean Becketti, Ph.D. Wonder where he thinks the economy is going and for how much longer real estate values will continue to increase and mortgage rates will continue at historic lows? Dr. Becketti will be followed by Joe Trainor, chairman of the Appraiser Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation. I know Joe Trainor very well and he’ll bring a very down to earth approach to what’s going on regarding licensing, certification, training and qualifying. I’m sure he also has some very good insight into the alleged “appraiser shortage.” The last segment of the morning will be Cool Tools for Better Appraisals. Who doesn’t like fancy new stuff to play with, especially when it helps streamline the process and produce a better product.

The afternoon session will see the typical splitting of the groups with the residential folks getting to hear the inestimable Bill Pastuzek pontificate on intended use and reporting issues. If we haven’t learned by now, our profession is not one where, “one size fits all”. Again, it all goes back to competency. After Bill, an august panel of highly experienced appraisers will help bolster our confidence with a discuss, “Defending Your Appraisal,” moderated by Dick Simmons, with Rich Goulet, Greg Accetta and Dario Mercadante participating, where else are you going to get well over a century of experience around one table! Don’t worry, you commercial folks will also have an interesting afternoon with two terrific panel presentations. The first, “Transit Oriented Development:  Transportation & Real Estate Synergies” sounds a bit esoteric, however, it is definitely a wave of the future and something we as practicing appraisers should have knowledge of and not have that dear in the headlight look on our face when someone brings up the topic of a TOD. Rose Perrizo will moderate this group of planners, consultants, advisors and project managers, all of whom have a great deal of experience. Finally, Don Bouchard will lead the last panel on the topic of “Private Student Housing: Not Your Father’s Dorm Room,” will cast a light on what exactly is going on regarding a very important topic, particularly given all of the bastions of higher education we have throughout New England.

So for $150 or $200 where else can you get two meals, exposure to a lot of great exhibits and seven hours of timely qualifying continuing education? The answer is nowhere else but the EXPO. I was just speaking with Steve Sousa and he said there are already more than 200 folks signed up, so get out of whatever report you are working on and sign up. Hope to see you there!

Steven Elliott, SRA, MRA, is principal at Elliott Gottschalk & Associates, Ashland, Mass.