The One Business Skill Every Appraiser Needs to Master

We recently asked our appraisal community, “What ONE business skill does every appraiser need to master?” By far, the most popular answer selection was “delegation and time management.” According to real-life appraisers, several business skills are important. But time management, in particular, is essential for building a successful career in real estate appraisal.
What ONE business skill does every appraiser need to master?

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Delegation & time management (42%)
“Time management is very critical in appraisal. As they say, time is money. At the same time, it’s important to be thorough as well and to not rush through key aspects and analysis of the appraisal.”
“You can’t make a $100,000 a year doing $15/hr work. To grow volume and revenues, [you] must focus on the most integral customer impacting processes (value conclusions, revisions, high profile files, etc.) that you do best and delegate the rest. Spend more time on recruiting and training (do it well and consistently) and you will grow revenues in any market.”
“When researching a subject property, you’ve got to have a good feel for all the time involved—how long will it take to drive to the home, inspect it, research it and complete the report? You’ve got to use all of that information to appropriately plan your days so you meet your clients’ expectations.”
“It is important to be organized and use time efficiently to get the most appraisals done properly.”
“Time management has become increasingly more challenging with the number of appraisal management companies ordering appraisals. They all want daily statuses on every assignment and often have questions and revision requests after the appraisal has been completed…. Having admin staff is more of a necessity to help handle what I call the ‘minutia’ that overwhelms us every day…. Everyone is working very hard to adapt and handle the unprecedented volume. Time management is key but hard to master. It’s a work in progress.”
“I’ve watched my dad work for himself as an appraiser for the last 10+ years, and everything comes pretty easy to him except meeting deadlines. Organization and time management is key! Don’t let it be your downfall.”
Need help with delegation and time management? Check out our post, 4 Steps to Finding and Hiring an Appraisal Assistant.
Project management & planning (14%)
“Project management is a basic foundation of appraisal completion. When you factor in deadlines for multiple people (appraiser, reviewer, financial, municipal), communication and follow up with various sources (owners, lenders, brokers, verification sources, etc.), and the various portions of an appraisal that can be completed at different times, project management to keep all those straight is the secret to effective appraisal completion.”
Financial management (13%)
“All business professionals, regardless of their discipline, will eventually fail if they do not practice sound financial concepts.”
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to money and how you handle it. Financial management is quite crucial as it’ll help you keep your business afloat and make future short time investments easier to make for more ROI.”
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Communication & negotiation (13%)
“Understanding the client’s needs is the first step in solving the appraisal problem. Negotiation may be necessary in getting a fee that’s worth your time.”
“Almost every assignment comes with the ah-ha moment, when you figure out what the client didn’t disclose that the assignment includes, significantly upping the workload. An appraiser worth their value to hire must include a fee re-negotiation clause in their contract and employ it, not simply shrink and put the beast on the back of their contractor/employee.”
Networking (5%)
“Having been a part of this industry for 17 years, I’ve seen different ways of doing business. In the early years it was all about bank relationships, networking with bank managers, mortgage brokers, even real estate agents to get a leg up on the competition. Then came AMCs, which felt a lot less personal. Not only because you didn’t have local relationships, but due to new regulations you were more concerned with communication with reps and maintaining distance rather than relationships. As the world turns, we have gotten friendlier and have actually discovered a phone call that starts with, “Good morning, how are you today?”…can lead to more personal relationships with the folks on the other end of the line.”
Marketing (4%)
“Marketing, because without the right marketing, you will not be a well known appraiser or trusted. Also within marketing is communication, which is key to a good healthy relationship for any business.”
Other (9%)
Of the 9% of survey respondents who selected “Other,” multiple people expressed the opinion that “all of the above” business skills are important for appraisers to master in order to be successful.
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