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