I’m reading a book named “Start with Why,” by Simon Sinek.
Start with Why makes the point that people who rally behind something are more motivated by a common cause, than by a common solution.
Our cause is motivated by hearing, seeing, and reading about fellow appraisers’ concerns. There is anger and frustration and disappointment. I hear this from residential appraisers, from commercial appraisers, and even from clients.
We witness repeated economic ‘melt-downs’ and recessions, blamed on various causes, but always to include appraisers. Why us?
“Why?” we ask. We’re just doing our job. We’re just reporting market price (which we call “value”). We do just what we’re told, given the pressure (overt or covert) from our clients.
Is it possible that perhaps some of this is our responsibility?
When we start with why, we have common cause. My “why” was starting this blog. My hope is to somehow provide a place, a forum, a platform for deeper, freer thought, outside the boundaries of “this is how things are done.” This is about how things might be done. This is about how we might approach creating a better profession, and provide a better service.
Are you a “how” person? Do you have some ideas?
The “why” can bring us together: a desire to give hope to our profession. A desire to provide better service, to feel personal satisfaction. And to wake up guilt free. To be paid well because what we do is ethical, truthful, methodical, and sure. Is that possible?
The purpose of USPAP is to, “promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice by establishing requirements for appraisers,” (USPAP). Are we practicing to “advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide”? (Appraisal Institute). Do we “foster the public trust of our members and the appraisal profession through compliance with the highest levels of ethical and professional standards”? (American Society of Appraisers).
This is for you.
The “how” is your contribution. This forum/blog/newsletter is a place for you. Contribute your opinion.
All I ask is that it be about improving the profession for us, and for the public good. It can be about ethics, about our organizations, our education, our technology, our purpose. Does this mean we need to do things in new ways? Or perhaps we need to return to our roots in ethics, competence, and leadership?
We can find each other with the why. We can learn possibilities with some “how.” From there we can proceed to the “what.” What can be done? What can we do?
What can we do in today’s paradigm shift in technology? Can ethics be learned? Can we easily give our clients more? What can I do?
What do you think?
April 12, 2017 @ 12:15 pm
My experience with Why people become appraisers, especially since licensing, is that they were promoted based on stories of how much money could be made, along with the ease of entry. I know that was a thought I had early on.
Self interests are behind the Why so many from so many unrelated fields, come into this vocationally. Few are attracted because of the public good, regardless of what the crafters of USPAP wrote.
For the large segment who came in to make easy money, this will never be a profession, it will always be only a vocation that requires a license and 1.16 hours of CE credits per month.
For five years Money Magazine included Real Estate Appraisal as one of the five best occupations, based on ease of entry and high income potential.
Given those driving factors, those that fall into this category, have little interest in advanced course work. Many have years of experience operating on little more than what they were Told the first year on how to write up a report to keep the Red Flags out, keep adjustments down to less than 15% and 15% {even is they should be more}, use a Template with most boxes checked, including “Stable” and have it programmed to make Adjustments Automatically based on some List they were given their first year in the business. Then, if the adjusted range did not include the target Sales Price, throw out one sale and get a higher one, even if it is from a different area, etc, etc. It is easy to make a report look good.
It is much harder to think about all of those intended users who might come to rely upon the report to make important financial decisions, such as buyers, lenders, investors, private mortgage insurers, federal agencies, etc. Better not to think about the Stream of Commerce through which the report will flow, that is too scary, more scary when one thinks about what the FNMA Certification 23 actually means.
By contrast, our job is actually pretty complicated if we embrace and employ not only the purpose of USPAP with the public good in mind, but when we embrace and employ those “good appraisal processes and procedures” that USPAP points us too.
It is fast and easy to push a button and get the data to fill out the 1004MC form. It is much harder, and takes more time to do actual Market Analysis of Supply, Demand, and Value Trends.
Time is the enemy if ones goal is to make a lot of money and all assignments are based on speed and price. The Due Diligence Steps of the Market Approach alone {Verifying Data with a party to the transaction to find out about Motivation, Terms, Concessions, Personal Property and to validate the sale to make sure it was not Fraud or a Planted Sale, then have a Market Derived Basis for the Adjustments made}, take hours, accomplished often over several days as phone and email tag is played to get the information.
From a Price Indexing standpoint, the $275 fee for a URAR that we were getting in 1982, should be at least $600, but todays’ report requires more resources, today we are licensed at a cost, and are insured at additional cost. Closer to $900 is more realistic to be at par with where fees were at 35 years ago. This is the Tragedy of the Commons by which our industry competes based on fees being driven by the lowest bidders.
As far as whether Ethics can be trained, I know so. The trouble is that no Ethics class is required before one gets a license. The Appraisal Foundation and authors of USPAP simply Assume that everyone who gets a license is Ethical, and yet most are driven by money first, customer service in giving the client what they want, without regard to the ethical issues of all those other parties who might be relying upon the appraisals.
This job is easy with a Template and Automatic adjustments, especially if you don’t think about the consequences on those who may come to rely upon the report, or the potential liability to the licensee who writes a misleading report, even if only because they did no primary research or verification’s to find out what the market was really doing.
I have reviewed reports when the appraisers were being indicated in criminal court, only to meet the appraisers in the hallway and have them tell me they did nothing wrong, they did what they always do. Sadly, they had been Hitting the Sales Prices on Illegal Flips for what turned out to be a Mortgage Fraud ring.
The principles and processes they had certified compliance with, were used against them in trial. Sadly, this could happen to tens of thousands who work the same way. Whether it be civil or criminal liability is not the point, being sued is not fun, it creates heartburn. Does it cause the defendant appraisers to change their view on Why they are being used, and Who might be relying upon their work? I doubt it.