Every year the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA) and the Mass. and R.I. Chapter of the Appraisal Institute jointly sponsor and produce The Appraisers Expo, a day-long conference with cutting edge appraisal education and old fashioned networking. This year the expo, designed for both residential and commercial appraisers, will again be held October 16 at the Sheraton Four Points in Norwood. While the morning session is devoted to economics and liability, the afternoon breakout sessions offer specialized commercial and residential appraisal topics. Here are ten pretty strong reasons to attend:

1. Victor Calanog Ph.D, chief economist and SVP at REIS, Inc. will be opening the morning session with an overview of the property markets including regional and economic trends allowing appraisers to anticipate future market movements. 

2. Sarah Philbrick, socioeconomics analyst with Metropolitan Area Planning Council, will share new insight into the past, present, and future of Metro Boston. Philbrick will provide a brief demo of MAPC’s crowdsourced on-line tool about past, present and future commercial and residential developments in the region.

3. Morning break is a great time to reconnect with former colleagues and compare notes on the morning speakers.

4. The late morning program is a panel discussion on limiting appraiser liability featuring Jennifer Markowski, Esq. from Peabody and Arnold; Jamie Moore from Moore Appraisal Services and John Torvi of Landy Insurance. 

5. The buffet lunch is included and features a variety of salads, cold cuts and a carving station. Amazingly, 300 appraisers dine in just under one hour. Lunch is another great networking opportunity. This year, sit with someone you don’t know and get their take on the appraisal business. With over 300 attendees, there’s a lot of expertise in the room to tap.

6. The early afternoon residential program is Thinking Outside the Bank. In Part 1, the panel will focus on private assignments including a well written engagement letter, valuing your own time, the client’s perspective, scope of work development, intended uses and intended users and reporting formats.

7. Part 2 of the residential program will present an array of potential Outside the Bank private assignments including estate planning and estates, divorce, bankruptcy, tax abatement and eminent domain. 

8. Meanwhile, the commercial program will begin the afternoon with a retrospective case study of the $2.5 billion Bank of New England (BNE) failure. Charles Douglas, SVP in loan control at BNE from 1981 to 1989, will discuss his book “The Outstanding Truth,” which outlines the events that foreshadowed this spectacular fall. Bruce Wiley, the former chief appraiser at BNE and John Leary, former chief appraiser at Shawmut in the early 1990s and early ASB member, will be on hand to discuss the challenges of marking to market following the exuberant 1980s. David Westcott, chief appraiser at Santander, will offer insights into current conditions, noting lessons from the past. 

9. The late afternoon commercial program will not disappoint. Retail Rebirth will present the changing landscape of on-line retailing and other nontraditional models that are emerging in place of traditional brick and mortar retail. 

10. The final networking opportunity of the day usually takes place right after the expo at One Bistro in the Sheraton Four Points where there are always a few appraisers to be found telling war stories and just enjoying the end of a thought provoking day. 

The MBREA and the Mass. and R.I. Chapter of the Appraiser Institute hope to see you at the expo.

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.