Randolph Glennon, Eastern Appraisal & Consulting

The pressure is on for appraisers to hustle and do even more in an effort to “keep ahead of the curve”...and the competition. Times are more competitive now than ever, despite appraisal industry demographic trends that appear to, but not actually favor appraisers. We know that the average age of “active” appraisers is now probably over 60 and rising while the number of active appraisers continues to fall by an average of at least two to three percent per year and much higher in some areas. But, state certified and professionally designated appraiser numbers according to the Appraisal Foundation are rising slightly, even as entrenched low fees and increasingly challenging education and experience requirements maintain barriers to entry for new appraisers and disincentives for their mentors/employers/supervisors.

This does not mean that there are fewer appraisers with more work in the improving, however fragile, macro economy we are enjoying. In fact, valuation work is just being performed faster and smarter by maximizing “big data” accessibility, more facile software and modeling by the new blood, by the middle of the pack, and by the old guard remaining as retirement looms.

Ambitious appraisers these days have a ton of resources to enhance their job performance and marketing. In my frequent referrals to real estate appraisal resources and education that are abundantly offered, it is much easier be on top of current real estate trends, evolving valuation methods, news, peer networking resources and the many other competitive tools that can elevate a hardworking, time-crunched appraiser into a better skilled competitor who can give clients what they want.

Of course, most clients are fee and delivery time driven. But, many of them separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the education, experience, specific real estate knowledge base and effectiveness that they require. It seems to me that the analytical parts of appraisal reports continue their trend towards “conciseness” in the amount of data, analyses and discussion between the covers- thanks to narrower, more forgiving Scope of Work requirements and latitude. The future will increasingly favor the compact appraisals that focus on the most germane appraisal issues, use current valuation tools and methods, and quickly get to the point.

Appraiser generalists working in the “commodities” niche where commerce prioritizes speed and cost effectiveness can now carry out those assignments with the benefit of a lot of cutting edge resources available from professional organizations in the classroom and on line. The same goes for the appraisers who work for clients who prefer and are willing to pay for the whole nine years of analysis and reporting.

Here is a brief resources reminder. The Appraisal Institute provides a huge variety of education experience, industry resources, research tools and networking opportunities. Check out the well-organized AI website at www.appraisalinstitute.org with user friendly links to all manner of topics. They run the gamut from basic classroom core courses required for professional designation to the on line courses (“synchronous” real time or on demand at your leisure), seminars, live webinars and in person networking alternatives. There are seventeen qualifying for designation credit courses and more than one hundred national and chapter offerings for designation and professional development. They cover the basics and niche appraisal topics. Webinars are more ad hoc and cover hot topics and current industry issues. There are dozens of on line forums with groups communicating about industry specialties via threads of relevant interest to subscriber participants.

The Appraisal Institute’s on line LUM Library is probably one of the best in the valuation industry. Appraiser News On Line helps us all stay informed about timely valuation issues in almost real time. The quarterly Appraisal Journal and Valuation Magazine are periodicals that dig deeper. Tech Bytes provide tips on the latest relevant technical tools for mobile and tradition office appraisers. The LIA column keeps us alert to professional practice and ethics hot spots, liability issues and related news.

For most of us who want more than email and telephone communication, smart phones have long since become mandatory for communication, with a numbing number of social and professional tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, all manner of Google related items, and others.

And, there are the many industry organizations which offer relevant, current data products and educational resources, like the Real Estate Counselors; major real estate broker firms; NAR; MBA; ASA; CCIM; SIOR; ULI; FIABCI-USA; IAAO; NAREIT; the U.S. Green Building Council, and dozens of others.

In this continually competitive appraisal environment, we are facing declining appraiser numbers and an ambiguous future. Our challenges are driven by frequently changing USPAP standards and language; renewed discussions about raising the “de minimis” threshold for federally related transaction appraisals; alternative valuation products; potential misuse of Scope of Work rules; advances by residential and commercial AMCs; shrinking appraisal delivery time requirements; and fee compression. It seems obvious and imperative that ambitious appraisers take advantage of the diverse professional education and development tools available to “stay ahead of the pack.”

Randolph Glennon, MAI, AI-GRS, CRE, is president of Eastern Appraisal & Consulting, Inc., Portland, Maine.