Damn, isn’t just plain thinking enough? Now he sez I gotta start thinking about thinking too?! Ted Whitmer was teaching his AI “Third Party Provider” class in Houston last week, the day before the Stats, Graphs, and Data Science1 class, for the AI Chapter’s annual 28 hour recertification week. I was privileged to drop in […]
There is a lot of talk about the wave of technology changing appraisal. What can you do? How can you be ahead of the wave? Is there hope? A wave of new technology means new tools: statistics, deep learning, big data, computation, data science, and brain-machine interface. But they need people. People qualified to use […]
Tools for work, tools for life. This time of the year for many is a time of reflection and hope. My reflection today is how some principles of our profession may be principles of a successful life; what those principles may be, and how they’ve contributed to my joy and sense of satisfaction and service. Integrity […]
No it’s not. Just do what you’re told. Do what you were taught. Follow the Rules. No thinking required. What are the “rules” of appraisal? Easy: Get your intended user’s expectations (scope of Work). Pick your comps. Apply one or more “approaches”. Provide your opinion (then explain, justify and support that opinion). How will you […]
Why do we put “stats”, “graphs”, and “data science” together? (Part I of VI parts.) In coming blogs, we’ll look at each of these four words separately. Today (part I) we look at the whole for its parts. We use this principle of the scientific method: take a problem apart into smaller parts, study the […]
Well, of course – appraisal is not based on our subjective beliefs. It is based on support! Support your opinions and conclusions! Support your results “by relevant evidence and logic.” Form your opinion, then support it . . . These words have always bothered me. A scientist does not form an opinion, then figure out […]
Simple. It’s valuation based on evidence, not belief or “good judgment.” What is “evidence”? Evidence can be anecdotal, empirical, or logical. Logical evidence is the easiest, and strongest. If A, then B must follow. We only need to agree that A is a fact, or is true, or as an assumption. Generally, there is no […]
Have you ever left a class feeling excited, but when you did your next assignment, you went back to the old way? Actionable education means you learn immediately useful actions and attitudes, AND the motivation to take advantage in your daily practice. How is this achieved? Well, one way is to simply understand how your […]
Editor’s Note: Check out the post from November 26th, 2019 here: Does Gratitude Make Me Money? Why should I have gratitude? Ugh! My clients want me to hit the number . . . And be ethical about it! Pressure, pressure, pressure. For me, the problem was the way I looked at things. I saw gratitude […]
The appraiser is supposed to be accurate. What is “accurate”? Dictionary meanings say accuracy is “the condition or quality of being true, correct, or exact.” Tell the truth. Can it be? Hmmm. A search for truth. OK. So how do we come to know the truth? Are we supposed to be paid truth-seekers? Cool. I […]
What kind of appraiser are you? Different appraisers have different attitudes! Some have a lot of experience, others a lot of education. Others emphasize the ‘art’, while others consider themselves ‘quants’. Let’s put aside the ‘art’ versus ‘science’ discussion, where the artists say: “No computer will ever replace the appraiser”, or “No amount of education […]
New Year’s resolutions are certainly good, even great wonder and intent. I have made a few. I don’t remember any ever working out. But some things did work out. I ask: What was the difference? The difference is between January 3rd and December 28th. Generally, I had resolved to make some resolutions right away, on […]
As an appraiser, it is time to look forward to this next year. For me, it seems looking forward always means looking backward. Oh well. Perhaps life is just like the appraisal process. We are asked to predict forward—based on the past market sales. Sometimes I wonder if a present even exists. Just as soon […]
Bank regulators are nearing a decision to raise residential real estate transactions appraisal threshold to $400,000 from $250,000, for certain transactions. Perhaps it should be set to $2million, or $5million. It strikes me that we have two separate taxpayer regulatory/administrative/quasi-governmental organizations working in opposition. On one hand we have the Appraisal Subcommittee and The Appraisal […]
We have been taught that appraisal solved one problem: the opinion of value. We were taught an “appraisal process” (now a “Valuation Process”). The process is called a procedure. It goes like this:[1] Identify the problem Decide on your scope of work Collect the data and describe the property Analyze the data (include market analysis) […]