Today was a great day in so many ways. Not only did I not have to wake up at the crack of dawn to get things done, I had one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had as a Real Estate Appraiser.
Let me set the stage a bit. I was contacted to do an appraisal on a home for market value due the owners wanting to sell the home they bought a couple years ago. We settled on a day and time which was today. I spoke with the owners before hand and when I got to the site however that when things got interesting and amazing at the same time. So here is my small story:
I was appraising a beast of a home today for a private party. They are putting the home on the market shortly. The next door neighbor is a realtor and she came over to offer her assistance.
I instead asked her if she had ever done an appraisal inspection to which she said no and I asked her if she would like to tag along and see exactly what I’m doing. She agreed and I put her to work. Lol.
I gave her my laser and said let’s have at it. She would take a measurement and I would then do the same to verify. She even got into the bushes as well and I showed her how i was making the sketch. Then we went inside and immediately went to the second floor. She asked why. I said we need to measure the top floor and over the garage as it’s not the same area as the first floor. She looked shocked. We then went for the second floor and measured over the garage and other areas to which I now had the sketch of the home (the basement was the same as the first floor)
We headed to the basement and measured the unfinished areas to take them out of the the finished areas.
After that I showed her the sketch and told her the above grade was 7412 sf and the basement was 3711 sf with 2396 sf finished and 1315 sf unfinished. She then said after using her calculator that the bone was 9808 sf finished because it’s a terrace level or walk out basement. While correct in her thinking I had to correct her.
After I explained to her about basements and how they aren’t to be included in the GLA and showed her some examples, it looked like she was hit by a car and finally realized how she’s been doing it all wrong.
I then showed her the tax records and how they had the above grade gla at 8250 sf (squaring off and also not taking out areas) to which she was again thrown off stating that she’s always used tax records as her data source. Well know she knows that maybe she needs proper measurements and not to rely on bad data.
We proceeded through the house taking pics, notes and more as well as discussing features etc.
At the very end, she thanked me for being so welcoming and for giving her an education that she would never get elsewhere. We sat and spoke about the market and more for about 1 hour afterwards in the driveway. I also learned some things and then found out that she is the head of the county realtor association and would like to have not only her company but others have the same experience she had and that she will be in touch to run a class with me (not for free either).
I learned some things from this. The first and foremost aspect is to Take the time to educate, take the time to help others understand what we do and how we do it. So many complain about realtors and more however most aren’t willing to teach them or advise them of the way we do things, how tax records are many times incorrect and how they now can better understand what we do.
This right here today made my day. It may even just take me to a new level. You aren’t just an appraiser. You are a teacher, a professor, a business owner and a human being.
If your sole purpose is to get in and out of a house as quickly as possible, then you are limiting yourself to so many other things. You will be known as the fast appraiser and you will get all that comes to you. Are you the same person that complains when things are done fast and not to the right specs? What’s the rush?
I absolutely enjoyed my day today. A normally 1hour inspection turned into 2 hours and every minute was worth it. Think about it.