I got nothing to add, really. I took some measuring work for realtors on their listings when I could, but that didn't pay the bills. $100-$150 per house.

My old boss raced to the bottom of the fee ladder and has kept the lights on. Most of his 10 or so employees got second jobs.

I basically lived on my savings for the past 2-3 years. Insanely bored. I would go weeks between jobs. I had a pretty good offer to be a list/sales agent with a high end firm here in town, but never pulled the trigger. It's not like they were busy either.

I had several interviews with a national appraisal chain and their final employment offer was an infuriating bait and switch on compensation. I walked out of the "interview." It would come out to something like $4-$6 per hour. LOL

I'm sure the savings will passed on the buyer/client, right?

I did find another place hiring, Aloft, that at least allowed the appraiser to work on the side on his own. I didn't get into the logistics of that being kosher as it had started to pick up with my one remaining client over the past 6 months.


Best of luck to all y'all. Hopefully in the next year it gets a bit better.

I hear you.

one of the biggest issues i've been noticing is that the AMCs are now using in-house appraisers for their work and only providing independents like you and i the table scraps. It's frankly terrible that they're even allowed to have their own appraisers and it's killing the industry.

As much as i hated it, I interviewed with a giant, terrible AMC for a staff position but they closed down the job because the Dallas market is so slow.

I honestly have no idea what to do. i've got some secondary sources of income but Im really struggling with the lack of work/purpose.

I know at one point, recently, VA appraisers were under staffed. I know it requires spending money to make money for the certification, but if you're anywhere near a major city, it could provide an additional income stream. Just random thoughts from a realtor.

Talked to a commercial broker recently and learned he's an MAI. We chatted about appraisal for a while. I asked him why he switched to brokerage. His answer..

"I got tired of hunting squirrels. Big game hunting might be less kills, but the payoff feeds the family much longer than a year of squirrels."

Thing is, I doubt he's very satisfied right now either.

Appraisers: Minimal work, not enough to go around, many not surviving
Real estate agents: Minimal work, not enough to go around, many not surviving
Mortgage originators: Minimal work, not enough to go around, many not surviving
Commercial agents: Minimal work, very few bites on leads, not enough to go around, many not surviving
Commercial Operators: Tough ACQ environment, minimal ACQ fees, taxes and insurance eating up revenues gains, many underwater on multiple deals
Home builders: Offering incentives to get buyers, many homes sitting on the market, rising expenses, demand softening despite demographics that should lead to higher demand

The entire real estate industry has been in a recession for going on two years, and the majority of people have no clue. The headlines tell them rents are up, home prices are stable, demand is strong, and more supply is needed. It fails to mention that cost of servicing debt is destroying many and very few are raising or even maintaining distributions to investors.

This is going to much worse before it gets better. All of this has happened in the supposed strong economy. Wait until the reality of the weak economy sets in. Wait until the credit bubble bursts.

FILO505 said:

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I know at one point, recently, VA appraisers were under staffed. I know it requires spending money to make money for the certification, but if you're anywhere near a major city, it could provide an additional income stream. Just random thoughts from a realtor.

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You have to wait for the panel availability to open up. I've been trying to get on it for years.

Feel guilty for saying this but I am a commercial appraiser (MAI) at a national firm and I am slammed. I am turning down work from my boss.

Quote:

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"I got tired of hunting squirrels. Big game hunting might be less kills, but the payoff feeds the family much longer than a year of squirrels."

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Yea maybe, but there is so much more tedious work involved in being a broker I wouldn't even mess with it. Unless you are in a really specialized property type there are a dozen competitors all knocking doors at all hours. The brokers have got to be hurting bad these days.

TxAG#2011 said:

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Feel guilty for saying this but I am a commercial appraiser (MAI) at a national firm and I am slammed. I am turning down work from my boss.

Quote:

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"I got tired of hunting squirrels. Big game hunting might be less kills, but the payoff feeds the family much longer than a year of squirrels."

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Yea maybe, but there is so much more tedious work involved in being a broker I wouldn't even mess with it. Unless you are in a really specialized property type there are a dozen competitors all knocking doors at all hours. The brokers have got to be hurting bad these days.

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When it's good, it's REALLY good. When it's bad, well.. hope you saved up.

We are in the final stages of a renovation which includes an addition. Is there any value in having it appraised if we aren't looking to sell anytime soon? And what's the cost? In Houston.

I wouldn't spend the money. If your tax district jacks up the value more than you agree to them maybe. Otherwise I'd wait until you sell since you have one then and your realtor can give you current market value.

wouldn't think so

htxag09 said:

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We are in the final stages of a renovation which includes an addition. Is there any value in having it appraised if we aren't looking to sell anytime soon? And what's the cost? In Houston.

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Based on this thread, you might call a bunch of appraisal offices to see if any of them would do it for $200.