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The Voice of the Appraiser survey is original research conducted annually by Realquantum to study trends in the appraisal industry and share insights with our community. It’s part of our Highest & Best Use webinar and blog series committed to supporting appraisers with information of value.
In a recent live webinar, Jeff Weiner, Co-Founder & CEO of Realquantum, was joined by Robert Skinner, Executive Managing Director at Cushman and Wakefield, and Sanjit Singh, Principal at Wernick Omura Singh. In the webinar, they covered the results of the survey, as well as what they are each seeing firsthand in their practices. This includes trends across business volume, client mix, team growth, and marketing as well as other discussions around the impact of macro trends like e-commerce and remote office work, interest rates, bank failures, and regulatory impacts.
Whether you are a new appraiser or an industry veteran, you’ll definitely be interested in the perspectives offered in this webinar! Read our recap below and watch the full webinar here.
Weiner, Skinner, and Singh offered their unique perspectives on key topics:
Appraisal firms have had to become more nimble and diversify their services in order to remain competitive.
During a discussion between Weiner and Singh, they shared survey results indicating that 40% of firms had become a “little busier” and 16% had become “much busier” in the current market. Weiner mentioned that new appraisers were entering the field, and there was “an increased use of CMHC financing.” In addition, Singh noted that they had noticed a huge increase in CMHC financing, particularly through the MLI Select program, which allows for 50-year amortizations and strong cash flow from assets, and that they had seen an increase in feasibility studies and consulting work.
Skinner emphasized the need for appraisal firms to be “nimble” and “diversify” their services in order to remain competitive. He explained that their company could easily shift its focus from lending to advisory services when needed. He also noted that diversification helps with flexibility, regardless of the size of the appraisal firm.
Singh mentioned that many firms had shifted their focus from commercial to residential work, but their company’s core focus was still on commercial valuation. Singh also did a lot of single-family appraisals, as well as discounted cash flow and capitalization in perpetuity. Weiner emphasized the importance of having “core competencies” and “experts in areas.”
Appraisers are in demand, and the outlook is strong for those who can diversify their services and specialize in niche areas.
Appraisers play a vital role in the real estate industry and there is high demand for their services. Skinner emphasized the importance of finding and retaining talented appraisers, cautioning against fee reduction.
Weiner shared his own success story and advised those looking to enter the business to learn some core competencies and diversify their services to keep their firm growing. “It’s a spectacular business if you’re willing to buckle down and learn some core competencies. And I think diversification is the key to keep a firm growing. If you can find some great niches, you can make your mark.” He added that “everybody on the call should be very proud” of the role they play in the real estate industry.
Skinner expressed his optimism for the future of the industry and predicted an increase in deals in the latter half of 2023. “We’re going to do twelve months of deals in the second six months of the year because that money cannot stay pent up much longer.”
Appraisal firms are looking for creative ways to train new appraisers in light of the demographic crisis facing the industry.
Due to the high demand for appraisal services, firms are looking for innovative ways to train new appraisers. In light of the demographic crisis facing the industry, where more appraisers are retiring than new appraisers coming in, firms are looking for ways to train new appraisers. Singh stressed the importance of training new appraisers to understand the logic and be able to explain their reasoning clearly and sensibly.
Weiner explained how his firm is striving to “provide high-quality reports and make sure that we’re training high-quality people and building high-quality analysts.” He also mentioned how automation can reduce the amount of writing required in appraisal reports, with content modules and commonly-versed phrases that can be added.
However, Skinner cautioned that critical thinking skills and common sense should not be replaced by automation in the appraisal process. Singh advised firms to delegate to lower-cost resources in order to simplify and grow new talent.
Realquantum is helping commercial appraisers increase their revenue and reduce tedious work.
Skinner and Weiner discussed how Realquantum is helping commercial appraisers increase their revenue and reduce tedious work. Skinner mentions that Cushman and Wakefield has a team of around 450 evaluation professionals that complete 38-40,000 individual assignments annually. With that said, Skinner goes on to say, “We’re also excited to partner with Realquantum as we continue to evolve and adopt the Realquantum platform.”
Realquantum is the only commercial real estate property database and appraisal report writing software that can increase individual and team productivity by up to 50% within 60 days. Realquantum is designed for appraisers such as:
To learn more about Realquantum, schedule a time to speak with one of our subject matter experts.
Realquantum is a SaaS company providing web-based real estate appraisal software and database products that accelerate the commercial real estate appraisal process.
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