We recently added a person to our appraisal staff, Al Colon. Al completed all of his course work and passed the Indiana test to become an Indiana Licensed Appraiser Trainee. We welcome him and believe he will be a real asset to Blacklidge Appraisals LLC.
I must say that Al attacked the challenge of class work like a first class athlete. He was persistent and enthusiastic from beginning to end ….. which really was a short amount of time. He worked evenings and weekends to get the job done. Both Mark and I are sure that he will continue this attitude toward learning the profession in days to come. We look forward to having him help us provide the very best residential appraisal service of any company in North Central Indiana.
Kent
Mark and I have been in three CE classes now in the past three weeks. Two were in Fort Wayne with Jerry Keller and the third was in Indianapolis with Mark Ratterman. As usual, we learn something each time we attend class. Keller’s first class was appraising in a foreclosure market. God knows, we have seen plenty of that in North Central Indiana in the past couple of years or so. Even now, the percentage of homes sold in the 12 county area we serve that are institution owned is higher than we would like to see, for sure. It is particularly heart wrenching when we walk into a home that still contains personal belongings of the family that has had to leave. We see clothing, furniture, and toys among a host of other personal belongings. Knowing a family had to leave their home is just plain sad. And it looks like we have a long way to go to recovery.
The second Keller class was on residential report writing. One always picks up new ideas and learns new techniques from both the instructor and from classmates. Jerry Keller has been teaching for many years for the National Assn. of Independent Fee Appraisers (NAIFA). He is good at both providing information and encouraging class discussion.
Finally, we attended a class in Indy on the use of spreadsheets, particularly Excel spreadsheets, in real estate appraisal applications. Mark Ratterman is the guru of the appraisal business not only in Indiana but nationwide. He has written more books and class materials than one can count. That plus his sense of humor makes a day with him not only go fast, but provides attendees with a mountain of information. We came away with a much greater knowledge of Excel operations and how to use spreadsheets for presentation of real estate appraisal data in reports. Great fun.
Kent
We now venture into the world of the blog. Heck, for a long time, I thought that was some animal that lived under a bridge in some distant land. We want to have some fun here as we express our thoughts and ideas about the world of residential real estate appraisal, especially in the Midwest. There are challenges. Things have changed for us over the 10 years we have been in business. We admit, most changes we have not liked very much. It seems that more and more is being expected of appraisers that requires more time, more talent, and higher skills without a commensurate increases in compensation. The Powers-that-Be have even inserted a level between what was us and our clients. These middle folks have to be paid and guess where the pressure comes!
So, here we are and here we will be. If you have thoughts to share, please do. We look forward to hearing from you.