AZ Real Estate Commentary

New Year's Resolution: Take Three Steps to Jump Start Your Appraisal Business for the New Decade!

1. Getting organized and conquering clutter: Compartmentalize your active projects keeping only the job that you are currently working on at the top of your desk. Clear out the 2009 appraisal files, organize and file away last year’s business records. Overcome by clutter? Check out these three sites for help: www.napo.net (National Association of Professional Organizers); www.nsgcd.org (National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization); and www.decluttered.com.

2. Review how your appraisal business compares now with your appraisal business at the start of the last decade. Many appraisers at that time had only recently gone online, casting aside 35 millimeter cameras and fedexing appraisal reports for the new world of digital cameras and electronic files. Take a close look at the hardware and software that you currently use and review what new products are available. Make sure that you are not falling behind the competition using inefficient products that could be cheaply replaced, a concern during these recessionary times.

3. What about your marketing? At the start of the last decade, it probably consisted of mailing calendars to mortgage brokers, calling on local bankers and advertising on one of a handful of directories for appraisers. Marketing is oftentimes viewed as a place to cut costs when business is slow but this can be a big mistake with lack of exposure for your practice causing it to slowly dry up! No need to spend $10,000 per year with the local Yellow Pages or Yellow Books, most new business connections are made online. Diversify your online advertising in ways that will help you to promote both your mortgage appraisal business and your private appraisal practice.

Regarding AMCs: Whether you hate them or are resigned to working with them, analyze what percentage of your practice that you want to allocate to them, the types of jobs you are looking for and the geographic areas that you are interested in working in.