Karen Friel, Friel Valuation Advisors, LLC

As we begin 2017, I would like to extend my best wishes to all our chapter designated members, candidates, affiliates for the upcoming year. I am honored to serve as the 2017 President of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. As President, I recognize and appreciate the efforts of our chapter’s past presidents and board members past and present in making our chapter a success over the years and offer a heartfelt thank you for those contributions.

Our chapter has a rich history of service to our membership and to the real estate community and we will continue to focus on the programs that bring real value to our members:

• Promote the Appraisal Institute designations; MAI, SRA, SRPA, AI-GRS, and AI-RRS; as the premier designations in the appraisal profession.

• Foster the designation of future members with education, support and ongoing advice.

• Offer Appraisal Institute courses from qualifying education to upper level designation track courses.

• Provide high quality continuing education options by offering proven Appraisal Institute seminars with top notch instructors.

• Generate cutting edge seminars at the chapter level that focus on current market topics and new appraisal requirements and conditions as they arise.

• Encourage communication and camaraderie in the existing membership.

The Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapter has been successful because we have consistently responded to changes within our organization, our profession and within the larger real estate profession, and we will continue to respond to those changes. Change, a constant, is one of the underlying principles within the appraisal profession. So what is changing in 2017? As president I will pursue some new initiatives for the chapter and lead the chapter’s response to changes on the Appraisal Institute national level.

It is not news to anyone that our profession is aging. I believe in appraisals as the most accurate valuation product in the marketplace but I recognize that demand for appraisals could someday exceed the supply of appraisers. This is already happening in some markets. It is critical to ensure the supply of future appraisers to continue to service the capital markets, litigation requirements, eminent domain proceedings, municipalities, and all the other Intended Users Appraisal Institute professionals’ service daily. They depend on us today and the Appraisal Institute must ensure they can depend on us for both residential and commercial appraisals tomorrow, next year and for years to come. To that end, 2017 chapter efforts will focus on increasing the visibility of the appraisal profession as a career option to a wider audience of potential new appraisers. As our chapter leadership ages, we will likewise endeavor to attract new leadership with fresh ideas that will continue to guide the chapter for the long term.

Lastly, we are facing internal changes regarding the chapter’s financial relationship with the national Appraisal Institute. I encourage everyone to review the FAQ’s regarding the new Chapter Financial Management and Administrative Policy that are posted on the Chapter website: www.massri-appraisalinstitute.org. Our chapter will respond to these changes but we want to hear from our membership first. Submit comments to chapter leadership by replying to [email protected]. We welcome your input.

I look forward to serving the membership in the coming year. Best wishes for 2017.

Karen Friel, MAI, MRA, is the 2017 president of the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and principal at Friel Valuation Advisors, Carlisle, Mass.