Portland Area Real Estate Appraisal Discussion

I just returned from a quick one-day trip to the east coast to attend the McKissock  Advisory Board meeting.  (For those not familiar with the McKissock name, it is a nationally-recognized appraisal school.)  The McKissock Advisory Board is a select group of experienced residential and commercial appraisers representing each region of the country and each discipline within the industry.  The goal of the quarterly Advisory Board meetings is to help McKissock’s leadership stay connected to issues relevant to appraisers, thereby shaping curriculum and strategic planning.

This was my first time with the group and it provided an opportunity to make the acquaintance of several of McKissock’s dedicated management staff as well as some highly-respected appraisers.  I also met the well-known Chicago appraiser, Paul Rowe, who I and many of my blog subscribers have gotten to know online, but may never have had the pleasure meet in person.  By happenstance, I even met one commercial appraiser who lives in the same Portland suburb as me.  It is funny to travel across the country to make the acquaintance of a neighbor.

One major topic discussed by the Advisory Board is ideas for upcoming educational offerings.  Can you think of any online or classroom subject that you would like to see made available by McKissock?

Another item addressed at the meeting are ways to make online or live local classes more fulfilling.  Do you have any ideas for improvement of appraisal classes that you’ve taken to make those offerings more engaging?

I believe that McKissock is a great organization that is absolutely dedicated to a quality appraisal (pun intended) educational experience.  They have some exciting plans for the future and are open to honest feedback.  I hope my subscribers take the time to offer their thoughts on McKissock education, even if those thoughts are negative.

Did I leave anything out or do you want to join in the conversation?  Let me know in the comments below.

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Thanks for reading,

Gary F. Kristensen, SRA, IFA, AGA

What a cool opportunity. They were very smart to invite you to pitch in your thoughts. Congratulations Gary.

I would like to see more on demand type offerings were I can watch a class on line without having to miss a day of work and fight traffic for a start time during the middle of rush hour traffic. I like the classroom setting but want it from the convenience of my home.

It was great to finally meet you in person! It is such an odd but cool experience to finally meet in person with someone you have known online for years. I look forward to many years to come of continued mutual success and sharing our ideas and thoughts about the appraisal profession online. Regarding MicKissock, I really think they are on the right track and provide a great education experience for appraisers. I think through these Advisory Panel meetings and online avenues like your blog, appraisers will be able to give their "two cents" and hopefully help them improve their offerings even more.

Thank you Ryan, Casey, and Paul for the comments. Casey, I share your thoughts. I would love to find a way to get that interactive feeling of going to a classroom without leaving my office. We discussed some interesting ways of making the online classroom more like the real classroom and the potential pitfalls.

Gary, that is very cool. With so many good appraisers like you and Paul I'm sure you guys had a lot of good discussion. I would say the two most important things to offer would be learning how to use excel spreadsheets to support adjustments and also learn about business development such as marketing and so forth. I believe the second item is very important to know so appraisers can know how to get business from non lender clients. Too many appraisers are dependent on lender work, which is typically ran by AMC's. We need to learn how to become more independent and I think having business from different sources is one way to do that.

Thank you Tom for the ideas. I will pass them onto McKissock. Those are great. I helped teach a class for McKissock last year on how to get non-lender appraisal work and it was well attended. We might be running that one again.