Richard Simmons, MBREA

The 2016 New England Appraisers Expo is being held at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Norwood on Monday, October 24. This annual event is sponsored by Landy Insurance, MLS Property Information Network, Strategic Information Resources and The Warren Group.

This is an annual education offering that was started in the 1980s by John Easton and Richard Goulet and is now the effort of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA) and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Chapter of the Appraisal Institute.

It is a day of education and networking for real estate appraisers and offers 7 hours certification credits for commercial and residential appraisers in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Numerous local leaders in fields related to real estate appraisal practices have donated numerous hours in providing these educational offerings. Commercial and residential appraisers will meet jointly for the morning and listen to presentations by Sean Becketti, PH.D., vice president and chief economist of Economic & Housing Research for Freddie Mac and Joseph Traynor, MRICS, GAA, chair of the Appraisal Qualifications Board. The morning session will be wrapped up by Marie Wentling, who will be moderating a panel on “New Cool Tools for Better Appraisals.” Panel members are Matt Cabrera, president of 3D Data, Glenn Enger and Jeffrey Howry.

The commercial afternoon session will consist of two offerings:

• “Transit Oriented Development Transportation and Real Estate Synergies” and will be a panel discussion moderated by Rose Perrizo, MAI of RP Realty Advisors. Panel members are Janice Bergeron, vice president, Boston office manager of Kennedy Jenks Consultants, Christopher Kuschel, senior regional planner & transportation specialist of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Francis DeCosta, chief operating officer of TR advisors, LLC and Matthieu Zahler, senior project manager of Trinity Financial.

• The second afternoon commercial program will be “Private Student Housing; Not Your Father’s Dorm Room” a panel discussion moderated by Don Bouchard, MAI and panel members John Cappellano, senior vice president of Lincoln Property Company, Rick Shaffer, president of Vision Properties, Sean Finnerty, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield Valuation & Advisory Services.

The Residential afternoon sessions are “Forms to Reports: Intended Use & Reporting Issues” presented by William Pastuszek, Jr., MRA, SRA, MAI. The second session: “Defending Your Appraisal” will be moderated by myself and the panel will consist of Gregory Accetta, MRA, MAI, AI-GRS, Richard Goulet, MRA and Dario Mercadante, certified general real estate appraiser.

I would personally like to thank Steve Sousa, executive, vice president of the MBREA, Karen Bertolino (past executive assistant for MBREA) and Dina Portrait, executive assistant for MBREA for all their hard work in putting this event together.

Please join us in what I am sure will be a stimulating day of appraisal education and a chance to network with fellow appraisal practitioners.

Richard Simmons, Jr., RA is the 2016 Mass. Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA) president, Boston, Mass.