See them frequently . He likes his job I love my job would not trade .
They do need to know a lot about the values of the homes .
Insurance company inspectors are another 15 minutes in and out .
I had a lawyer call me the other day and ask me why I didn’t report the mold that the appraiser smelled in the home I inspected the week before. I had to inform the attorney that lab analysis was necessary to confirm pressence of mold. I also let him know that in the report there were pictures of standing water in the crawl space and a sump pump that didn’t work. I even got the buyer to come into the crawlspace to see for himself. If you are going to do appraisals get your nose certified by a lab to do mold inspections and you can do both.
A good example of supply and demand! Every bank wants a property appraised to validate the loan amount and hence every loan generates business for an appraiser. On the other hand, HI’s are the scourge and plague for every deal and they are not readily accepted by “ALL” parties in the transaction.
Appraisers are licensed here in Texas also. There are two methods to obtain your license:
Apprentice track with the program set up to ensure indentured servitude if you run into the wrong appraiser (happens sometimes but not the norm). Unfortunately you must find an appraiser with endorsement to accept apprentices that is willing to take you on. Not an easy thing.
Fast track which requires additional training and testing (not really much) to go from nothing to Licensed Appraiser. Unfortunately to take this route the Appraiser Licensing Board requires you to obtain 2 letters from Professional Appraisers, that are endorsed to accept Apprentices, explaining that they will not accept you as an Apprentice. Been there, can’t do that! I could not find one in 20 Professional Appraisers willing to write a letter for this.
Yes, I agree with the above posts, an appraiser does a lot of work back at the office, when he comes out he is mostly making a sketch of the house and writing down the basics. he doesn’t care if the heater works or how old it is, just the fact that one is there. I have had several appriasals done over the years and they are quite a few pages long and all typed. very professional looking. and they do have to go to training and get certified.
A lot of appraisers are like cheap inspectors doing realtor friendly inspetons. They out to hit numbers for the bank or mortgage comapny so they can close. They have to be on an approved list.
Back with the last market crash here in Florida, a lot of them wound up loosing their licenses because they were over valuing properties. The same thing has just happened with this current boom. A lot of properties were over valued for the sake of pushing loans through. The s**t is about to hit that fan again and there will be an attrition rate.
There are good and bad in all fields… My best friend is a licensed appraiser and routinely turns down requests from companies trying to get “their” values over what is actual. His “full inspections” take 45 minutes at the property… some driving around to find comparables… some on line research prior to visiting the property… some on line research after the visits… an occasional visit to the county courts for record searches… and then an hour or more producing the appraisal report. … but that’s just him.
Maybe it is only a PA requirement, but Appraisers here have to do what amounts to a 2 year apprenticeship prior to being fully licensed (or approved or whatever the PA term is).
I have to think that is a pretty hard gig to get and that those 2 years can be kind of lean.
How many HIs would be here if you had to do a 2 year apprenticeship prior to opening up shop for yourself?
They also spend alot of time pulling reports together…
When I was inspecting in VA I had an FHA appraiser call me and berate me for not pointing out that the EIFS was failing. She basically called me every name in the book, and took about ten minutes to explain that I didn’t know what I was doing, should close my business, and get real training before I reopened.
I spent the next 30 seconds explaining to her that the property was clad with T1-11 wood siding and had been painted with a texture paint, and if she was so inclined she could find a partially full can of texture paint in the shed. I also explained that the “failing areas” she noticed were in my report as wood rot on the siding, and was noted as in need of repair.
I am also an appraiser. The fields work well together.
There are benefits to both. Home inspections take less time overall but are more physical.
Appraisals also add another layer of people to please, underwriters. There is a lot of pressure to hit a number, but as in everything, your ethics will be a large part of your long term success.
