DataMaster for Appraisers

The Right Data | The Right Time | The Right Decision

Shauna Hatch

Appraising and Foreclosures in 2021

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2021 at the start
As 2021 starts off new, be prepared to shift your appraisal focus

As an appraiser, are you ready to shift your business focus in 2021? While 2020 drove refinances by the truckloads, 2021 is likely to shift to an increased number of foreclosure appraisals.

Unemployment

A closed sign on a business
Unemployment will likely worsen before it gets better

Unemployment will likely worsen before it gets better. As a result, businesses continue to react to the consequences of Covid-related shutdowns and travel restrictions. Due to Covid, employment for millions of Americans will continue to change.

Data Peterson, chief economist for the Real Estate Forecast Summit Conference Board stated, “We won’t see the labor market go back to the 3.4% unemployment we had before the pandemic. It’ll probably level out around 5%. In normal times, that would be good. But based on how far we got in lowering the unemployment rate, that’s still quite elevated.”

The effects of rising unemployment will continue to domino throughout the economy. Unless legislation is signed that will extend the protections afforded underneath the CARES Act, by March of 2021, borrowers who signed up at the beginning of the program in March 2020 will be facing foreclosure. The expiration of the CARES Act will set off a mass exodus from homes. This exodus will flood the market with homes for sale. It will also curtail the availability of rentals.

Evictions & Foreclosures

To make the situation worse, the expiration of the ban on evictions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decreed through December 2020 will increase the migration of homeowners and renters. Unemployment benefits are also nearing their expiration date. Unless legislation extends unemployment benefits, the situation will be even worse.

According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau and completed on November 9, 2020, approximately 5.8 million adults say that they are somewhat to very likely to face eviction or foreclosure within the next two months. There are 17.8 million adults that live in households that are behind on rent or mortgage payments. That means that one third of these adults are facing eviction or foreclosure in the immediate future.

Ready, get set, go! Appraising foreclosures will grow in 2021!
The percentage of adults living in households not current on rent or mortgage where eviction or foreclosure in the next two months is either very likely or somewhat likely.

Shift Your Focus

The year 2021 is impossible to predict. However, as you can see, the signs indicate that there will be an increased number of foreclosure appraisals. Appraisers might need to shift their business focus to more foreclosure appraisals in 2021.

It is likely that refinancing will continue through 2021. Many homeowners have yet to take advantage of historically low interest rates. Refinances have slowed down in the last couple months of 2020 though. Keep up on the current trends and be prepared to make the shift in your appraisal focus as the market reacts to the consequences of Covid-19!

Looking for ideas on how to gain new clients? Check out our post: How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Obtain New Clients.

Afraid of the Future? Use These Real Estate Appraisal Tools!

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Protection From The State Board - Appraisal Tools
Do you need tools for your future?

As a real estate appraiser, are you afraid of the future? Are you afraid of getting that dreaded call from the state board? Do you need some better real estate appraisal tools?

During the thirty-plus years that the average real estate appraiser will work as an appraiser, it is extremely unusual for them to face their state board. But the fear is still present. While the odds are against ever experiencing that jarring event, the possibility of it occurring is always in the back of an appraiser’s mind.

Less a fear, more of a constant annoyance, and far more common is the need to make corrections on an appraisal report. Most appraisers expect to make corrections on their reports about 20% of the time, with the most experienced and thorough appraisers expecting to make revisions about 10% of the time (Keven Ewell).

Revisions take time, which means money out of an appraiser’s pocket, which means worry and possibly fear about what tomorrow might bring. Will it be the day that the state board comes calling? How does an appraiser ensure their reports are clean and as free as possible from mistakes?

Most appraisers develop their own methods to support their conclusions with relevant explanations and data.

The most successful and astute appraisers use special software tools developed to help them stay away from the state boards and avoid Fannie and Freddie’s attention.

But not all appraisers know about these tools.

If you’re reading this and wondering what tools your colleagues are using to overcome their fear of the future, then keep reading!

Real Estate Appraisal Tools to the Rescue!

Real Estate Appraisal Tools - Neighborhood Analysis
DataMaster tools are developed to help appraisers!

DataMaster appraisal tools help appraisers!

The appraisal profession deserves society’s respect and has earned it over the decades through hard work by tens of thousands of dedicated appraisers.

Because of this, DataMaster developed specialized real estate appraiser tools to help hard-working appraisers. DataMaster empowers you to create your reports faster with fewer errors – making your conclusions more accurate and credible. Appraisers that know about these tools, take the time to learn them, and implement them into their daily processes find tremendous success in their day-to-day appraisal life.

What tools are available to appraisers to help ease their worries and give them more time?

The Top Two Real Estate Appraisal Tools

Five Star Appraisal Tools
Five star tools for appraisers

The top two real estate appraiser tools that have impacted the appraiser world from DataMaster this year are CompTracker and Neighborhood Analysis.

These two appraiser-designed, appraiser-tested, and appraiser-approved tools give you confidence in your future! They help you protect your data by storing it for you, they help you by pointing out discrepancies compared to previous reports, and they save you So. Much. Time!

You’ll have nothing to fear!

Let’s look a little deeper into CompTracker and Neighborhood Analysis by DataMaster.

CompTracker

Appraisal Tools - CompTracker by DataMaster
CompTracker

As you can guess by the name, this tool saves your comps for you. Fannie and Freddie have a database of your comps that they use to judge your consistency.

Shouldn’t you have one too?

Not only does CompTracker save your comps, but it also tracks them for you. If you pull up a comp to use in an appraisal down the road, CompTracker will notify you if any data in your current assignment conflicts with the same comp in your previous report. For instance, if you gave the home a Q3 on home quality the first time you used the comp, but the second time you enter a Q2, CompTracker will notify you! Any differences are brought to your attention, down to any missing commas!

CompTracker also allows you to share data with trusted peers in a USPAP-compliant way. You don’t have to share if you choose not to, but if you use this feature, you can share your files with your trusted peers and vice versa. Sharing data saves you time. CompTracker can help you make better decisions based on all the available data. It’s like having a mentor look through your report for you!

As Jared Preisler said,

Comptracker is like an insurance policy that only costs $10. It’s like insurance for my license, my profession, and my livelihood.

CompTracker helps alleviate your fears of being called before the board. Plus, it saves you time. Instead of calling the group of appraisers I trust, I can see what they’ve already done and use it to inform my decisions.

Neighborhood Analysis

Neighborhood Analysis Real Estate Appraisal Tools
Neighborhood Analysis

How does this tool save the day? Just enter your data into Neighborhood Analysis, define the markets, then sit back and watch the magic happen.

You, the appraiser, have all of the power!

You tell Neighborhood Analysis what you want your market to be, whether it’s two-stories versus ramblers, a small market versus a large market, or whatever else you feel is appropriate for your particular appraisal. DataMaster takes the information that you enter and segments and compares the two contrasting datasets.

Neighborhood Analysis presents a comparison of the two markets. This comparison shows you one or two years of month-to-month data or six years of quarterly data.

You choose the applicable data, DataMaster’s Neighborhood Analysis fills out the fields automatically, provides statistics, and offers meaningful graphs to strengthen your decisions.

Once you hit “Send to Report,” DataMaster saves all your Neighborhood Analysis information into your personal archive, helping you to stay USPAP compliant.

Do you feel your stress level subsiding already? These two tools help YOU create cleaner reports! These tools are here to save you time!

No More Fear

Excited about appraisal tools!
No more fear!

You’ve got two real estate appraisal tools to help you alleviate your fears about what tomorrow might bring. Try CompTracker and Neighborhood Analysis out today! Give us a call at 801.657.5769 or chat with us on our website at datamasterusa.com!

Before you go, here are a few more of the appraiser-developed, appraiser-tested, and appraiser-approved features that DataMaster offers you! We’re here to help make your life easier, less stressful, and more successful!

  • Field Formatting
  • Maps Page
  • Smart Field Technology
  • Photos Page
  • Plat Maps
  • Easy-to-add second sale verification source
  • Agent comments on comps
  • Geocoded distances
  • Back-end MLS Data
  • MLS sheet
  • MLS interior and exterior property photos
  • Sales deed history
  • Graphs
  • Compatible with all form vendors!

Happy Appraising!

How to Finish Goals

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We all want to

Finish Our Goals!

We all want to finish our goals!

As we head into the holidays, many of us are thinking ahead past the celebrations and pondering how to finish our goals next year! What do we want to change during 2021? After all, 2020 has been a rough year, and we want things to be different in 2021!

Even if you usually don’t set New Year’s goals, it seems that the baton passing of 2020 to 2021 is a good time to reconsider, shake things up, and make plans for a better year. We’re all stronger, more resilient, and open to change now that 2020 is mercifully winding to a close.

So if you want to make some changes but haven’t had great success in the past, here are some tips from someone’s who’s eaten some elephants one bite at a time.

Write it Down

To finish your goals

Write Your Goals Down!

I don’t like the word resolution when it comes to setting goals. A resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something,” (Oxford Dictionary). I prefer to consider my “resolutions” as goals, which are “the result or achievement toward which effort is directed,” (Dictionary.com). This gives more fluidity to the entire process, making completion of the goals more realistic. Some goals are meant to be pliable as the year progresses, and it’s not failure to change goals as circumstances change.

It’s been said that a goal isn’t a goal until it’s written down. For the most part I agree with that. Some goals are so general and broad though that they might not need written down, such as “graduate from college.” Even though, I must admit, I wrote that goal down years ago. I’m a goal finisher, apparently one of the 8% who accomplishes New Year’s resolutions every year. That doesn’t mean that I accomplish every single one of the goals that I set ( I set about 40 goals this year) though. I usually accomplish many goals in full, many more in part, and others not at all. The goals that I don’t get to are obviously the lowest priorities, something I’ll get to later on in this post.

How Many Goals?

Just how many goals do you need to write down? Well, that’s up to you and what you think is helpful. I look at my goals as guidance for where my time and efforts are going to go over the course of the year. I don’t see them as unyielding words in stone that can’t be adjusted as needed. What works for me might not work exactly the same for you.

Years ago, I showed my list of goals to a group of ladies at my church during a lesson that I was teaching. I was dismayed by the gasps that came from the group! Apparently my goal list was a bit too daunting to share! Looking back at the embarrassing moment isn’t so awful now, but at the time I was rather embarrassed for setting so many goals and admitting it! I’ve come to realize that what works for me is OK for me, and what works for other people is OK for them!

How to Track Your Goals

How do you write down your goals? I type mine up and add pictures or boxes that I cross off and add notes to during my monthly review. Be sure and make the tracking chart appealing to you. I’ve found that for daily goals, such as my goals this year of getting up to 50 sit-ups, 50 leg lifts, and 50 bikes at once, get more attention when I write the daily tracking on a sticky paper next to my bed. I’ll throw the sticky paper on my bed or floor to remind me to do the exercises. As of the end of November I’ve been able to get up to 50 on all three, just not all at once yet (but it’s coming!). Other goals don’t need daily attention, and I track those on my regular schedule as needed.

Step By Step

Set up your goals

Step By Step

No, I’m not referring to the New Kids on the Block song (uh oh, now it’s going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day)! I’m referring to breaking down the goal into its building blocks. Let’s look at an example from the life of yours truly.

Successful Business

I had a booming music studio in my home before I went to work full time here at DataMaster. I taught piano, guitar, and flute to upwards of 25 kids. How did I build my studio up? It didn’t happen overnight. First, I looked at every building block that it would take to construct a thriving home business. Next, I put each block in place, one at a time. Then I:

After a short time I was full, along with my daughters who also taught piano and guitar. Step by step I built a solid studio and from there on word of mouth kept us full for the most part, with an occasional post on Facebook. I even took the advertising off of my truck!

Start Small

Start Small

Build Your Goals

Let’s elaborate on taking a large goal and breaking it down into it’s building blocks. Break those building blocks down into the smallest chunks that are doable for you. If you want to write a book, make a goal to work on your book for ten minutes a day, if that’s all you can fit in. I wrote a book a few years back and despite a complete rewrite, was able to accomplish that goal by working on it a little bit at a time.

The same concept applies to upgrading your education, learning to play a musical instrument, fixing up your home, building your business, or improving family relationship. What are the small steps that you can do every day, or every few days? Let me share a couple of examples that might strike a chord with you!

Upgrading Your Education

I went back to college in 2011 when I was 37 years old. At the time I had 4 children still at home. My husband worked more than full time as a physical therapist. We had a lot of medical issues in our family that we dealt with. On top of all of that, we were just plain busy! I knew that there was no way I would be able to go to school full time, complete my degree, and stay sane, so I signed up for just a couple of classes. There were even two semesters in the following years when I only took one math class and nothing else!

I finished my associates degree, took two years off to deal with family health issues, then went back to school part-time. Later, I jumped in full-time as my circumstances allowed. All in all it took me about eight years to get my bachelors degree). But it was worth it! If I had tried going full-time, I would’ve failed. I knew that, and I set my course up in a way that I knew was doable and would end in success.

Parable of the Tuna

My second example of starting small is what I’ll call the Parable of the Tuna. When my family was young and my husband had just graduated from graduate school and started his first job out of school, we had no money. None. But we wanted to be prepared for whatever the future might hold, and so we started building a food storage. I looked at the list of how much food we were supposed to have for each child and adult. It was completely and utterly impossible financially for us to expect to buy that amount anytime soon.

Instead of giving up, I decided to do what was realistic and possible for our young family, I started buying canned tuna a couple of cans at a time. That was it. But over time that effort paid off and the day came when we had enough tuna to be considered a proper storage amount for our family!

From there I started buying staples in small amounts. A few moves later and with a persistent effort at buying a little here and there, I could honestly say that we had the basics that we needed!

Priorities Are Where You Spend Your Time!

What are your priorities?

Focus On Your Priorities!

Not sure what your priorities are? Where do you spend you time? That’s your priority! It might surprise you if you take stock of where your time goes everyday and what you think your priorities are. Your priorities are what you spend your time on, whether you realize it or not.

I like how the Academic Coach describes priorities:

Priorities…start to narrow down which goals have more importance…and what concrete steps you need to take…in order to move towards the bigger picture goal. It is most effective if you plan these in weekly segments – anything longer than that, and you soon find your weeks are spent doing things that are in fact not furthering your progress towards your goal.

The Academic Coach

There’s the clincher, where your time goes is what your priorities are!

Tools

Track your goals

Use the Right Tools!

Once you decide on your goals, it’s time to write them down and track them so that you can finish them! I’m a big fan of pen and paper. Printer ink and paper works pretty well too. My yearly goals are all printed up and I track them every month with a pen. I have tried online time managers and have settled on Trello. I like Trello’s kanban cards and its ease of use. And the basic version, which works great for me, is free!

Trello

I’ve tried to go completely to Trello but find that having a written list is actually more helpful for daily personal to-dos, whereas Trello works really well for work to-dos.

Outlook or Google Calendars

Online calendars are helpful. I add appointments to my Outlook calendar and events that I need reminders for.

My family and I track our upcoming events on a wall calendar that we go through every week, making sure that our Outlook or Google calendars are in sync with it.

Find the Best Tool for YOU!

It’s all about finding the best tools that fit your particular situation. If you run your own business, it’s of the utmost priority to come across as organized to your clients! We’ve all dealt with businesses that are chaos and with businesses that are organized. The difference is in the effort to stay organized and use the proper tools. I’m dealing with a car body shop right now that won’t get my business again! They seem to have no sense of communication or organization and their poor planning makes for a miserable customer experience! A few simple tools would help the business immensely, but it doesn’t seem to be a priority to them.

Go Get ‘Em!

Move forward!

You Can Finish Your Goals!

I hope that some of my tips and experiences have given you some new ideas for how to finish your goals! For those of us who are always moving forward and not content to sit comfortably in one spot, our life is a constant iteration of improving our processes and ourselves while we’re at it. Setting goals once a year, once a month, or as often as we feel the need to, is an important part of growing socially, mentally, physically, spiritually, and professionally!

Best wishes as you start setting up your 2021 goals now!

How to Make More Money Appraising: Adopt New Technology

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Computer technology for appraisers

Typewriters and Whiteout

Some of us remember the days of the typewriter. Ah yes, the merciless metal beast that didn’t allow for mistakes (whiteout never worked that well). When the computer became mainstream, we happily adopted the new technology and reveled in our ability to correct mistakes without any gloppy white paste or tiny pieces of white-coated plastic film.

Then to our joy, along came digital cameras, laser measures, and alas, the mighty cell phone. As an appraiser you adopted all of these amazing technological tools, marveling at how many more appraisals you could complete each day and how much more money you brought in as you adopted each new technology.

Today, for our final post in our “Making More Money Appraising” seven-part series, I’m going to address a couple of technologies that you could be using to save yourself a lot of time and in the process make yourself more money!

Make More Money With Drones

When the FAA relaxed drone regulations in 2019, it made it easier for appraisers to incorporate drone technology into their appraisal processes. To operate the drone you have two options, the hard way and the easier way. The hard way: you’ll need to get a pilot’s license for traditional aircraft. The easier way: pass the FAA Unmanned Aeronautical General Knowledge Test to receive your Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate. Once you get your certifications, you can join the ranks of the early adopters who use drones in their appraisal process!

Using a drone can save you money by eliminating the need for photos from regular aircrafts and the costs that come with renting an aircrafts and a pilot.

Another plus, you can fly the drone during inclement weather, quite helpful if you live in an area where the weather often dictates your appraisal process.

And one other plus, the photos you take with a drone will be more detailed than photos taken from the ground only (it’s hard to get above a roof without wings or a propeller!).

Drones are the technology of the future, and appraisers who incorporate this exciting tool will save time and money over appraisers who don’t adopt them.

Data Management Technology

Appraisers have access to a small collection of appraisal data management technology. Despite the enormous time savings that appraisal data management software brings, only a small percentage of appraisers actually use these time-saving, income-increasing tools!

The most popular appraisal data management technology in the United States, DataMaster, became electronically available in 1996. The software sprang from the data co-op that Market Data Services founder and CEO, Rick Lifferth, established in 1980.

Over the years, DataMaster has developed into the world-class appraisal technology it is today. We pride ourselves on saving you an hour or more on each and every appraisal when you use our technology!

As Keven Ewell, a USPAP instructor, Utah Association of Appraisers Board member and DataMaster appraiser, wrote:

I was always taught that I should work smarter, not harder.

I like to look for tools that save me time and help me produce more credible results. This is where DataMaster comes in for me.

DataMaster:

* Helps me save time by importing the MLS and public records information for my subject and comparables into my report,

* Provides me with a market analysis tool that helps me make decisions on changing markets and,

* Presents the deed history from county records and allows me to quickly associate the recorded deeds with the transaction of the subject and comparables.

The DataMaster team has recently added a market analysis feature (Neighborhood Analysis) that allows me to look at two market segments at the same time. I have an assistant that helps me import the information from DataMaster into my report. I give my assistant the comparables and data and they put them into DataMaster. I then verify the information and import it into the appraisal. I am left with entering my decisions on the quality and condition, of the subject and comps, comment writing, adjustments, and reconciliation.

With DataMaster I have been able to increase my productivity by nearly 30%.

Conclusion

There is so much new technology coming that can benefit appraisers. We’d love to know some of the tools you’ve used. Leave us a comment at the bottom of the article.

I hope that you’ve found some helpful tips among the seven articles in this seven-post series! There is always potential to improve, streamline, save time, and earn more money!

Happy appraising!

Here are the six other posts in there series:

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Managing Time

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Upgrade Certifications

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Human Capital

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Manage Business Expenses

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Move!

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Obtain New Clients

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Obtain New Clients

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Success Ahead Sign
Find success by obtaining new clients!

Who knew that there were so many ways that you could make more money as an appraiser? In this series we’ve discussed managing time, upgrading certifications, utilizing human capital, managing business expenses, and moving.

In this penultimate article in our seven-article series, we’ll explore how to make more money by obtaining new clients.

Get Onto Approved Rosters

The majority of appraisers keep their schedules full by remaining in good standing with lenders and AMCs. As you prove your high-quality work ethic by submitting thorough, accurate, and timely reports, you’ll be more likely to stay on the lenders’ and AMCs’ go-to list. This effort alone keeps many appraisers busy and fills an appraiser’s schedule as full as he or she wishes. However, if you find that you’re not getting the load of work that you desire, or you don’t want to be dependent on lenders and AMCs, there are several other options for generating more customers that you can try.

Referrals

Gaining referrals by positive word of mouth is a cheap, easy way to grow you business, once you get the process down.

Happy customers are one of your greatest business growers. After all, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from the people they know, 50% of word of mouth recommendations are the leading factor behind a purchasing decision, 72% of people trust online reviews as much as in-person recommendations, and 84% of B2B decision makers start their process because of a referral. Happy customers tend to talk about how happy they are to their friends, family, and co-workers and it makes a difference in your business!

It will help you if remember the importance of every, and I emphasize every, touchpoint along the way. Every interaction that your customer has with you should be as positive as possible, and if it’s not, find a way to turn it into a positive experience for your customer! Keep in mind that every appraisal that you complete should be treated with the same detail and promptness that you would use if Donnie Osmond was your client!

If you end a transaction with an unhappy customer, there’s a 91% chance that they won’t do business with you again, and that one unhappy customer will typically tell 9 to 15 other people about their bad experience! Think that you can undo that negative experience? It takes roughly 40 positive customer experiences to undo the damage of one single negative review. Clearly, it’s worth every effort you can make to keep your customer happy with the hopes that they’ll come to you again and again and pass your name on to their friends, family, and co-workers, who in turn will pass your name on to their friends, family, and co-workers, and…you get where this is leading!

If you don’t want to wait for positive word of mouth only to build your business, you can always ask for referrals. This in and of itself could be an entire blog post, so I’ll keep it simple.

If you have a happy customer, hand them some business cards and ask them for referrals! Call your happy customer a day or two after you’ve finished your transaction with them and ask them for a referral or two or send them a friendly email in which you thank them for their business and ask for referrals. If you want to make it really easy, include an email template that your happy customer can fill out and send to their friends and family, filled with praises and recommendations for you!

Not so hard, right?

Networking

Everyone who has any level of success knows that networking is an integral part of that success. Knowing that we need to provide superior touchpoints for not only our customers, but for our co-workers and acquaintances as well, influences our minute-to-minute actions as we interact in-person, on the phone, and online.

Why should you put that extra effort in to network? According to Bianca Miller Cole, writing for Forbes, networking is important for several reasons:

  • Makes you noticeable
  • An avenue for newer opportunities
  • Helps you reassess your qualification
  • Improves your creative intellect
  • An extra resource library
  • Support from high profile individuals
  • Growth in status
  • Growth in self-confidence
  • Develop long-lasting relationships

And let’s add: networking helps you get referrals from other professionals such as RE agents, divorce attorneys, and estate attorneys. As you scratch each others’ backs, everyone’s business will grow, including yours!

Online Marketing

Some of you may have dabbled in online advertising. This kind of advertising has two options, paid and organic (i.e., free!). This is yet another subject that is robust enough to fill another blog post, but let’s touch briefly on it.

If you’re interested in trying paid ads on any of the social medias, there are plenty of self-help articles that will help you get started. Every platform differs, so delving into the instructions for each specific platform that you want to advertise on is the way to go (I recommend starting with one platform, getting it down, then adding another).

If you’re interested in advertising for free through your social channels, here are some tips to get you started:

  • Post consistently (use a social media planning calendar)
  • Use a social media scheduler such as Hootsuite or Meet Edgar
  • Do a quick search to see what the best times to post are (it depends on the channel)
  • Start a blog and announce your posts on social media
  • Promptly respond to any comments and questions
  • Invite current friends and customer to like and follow your social media pages
  • Track your analytics so you can improve your posts
  • Share funny, interesting, and scary stories from your workday

If you’d like more details, see our blog post, “Advertise Locally for Free with Facebook,.”

By advertising on social media, you’ll gradually expand your client base. This method doesn’t have to take that much time, a few interesting posts a week might be all you need to do the trick!

Do You Ever Let Clients Go?

Wait, what? Why would anyone let clients go? Well, in rare instances, it might actually be the right thing to do.

You might remember that Rick Lifferth, founder and CEO of DataMaster, had to make a choice between raising his rates and losing customers (see our blog post, “How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Manage Business Expenses,”). When new requirements from Fannie and Freddie increased the length of time that it took to complete appraisals, Rick had to choose “which broke [he] would rather be,” i.e. going broke from not earning enough to cover his expenses, or going broke from possibly losing customers who would be unhappy with his rate increases.

Rick raised his rates, and in the process lost some customers, but in the long run he was just fine. The risk paid off and he was able to keep his appraisal business and grow it into the company that we know today!

Other situations might necessitate your intentional firing of a customer. Yes, you read that right. That might go against everything you’ve ever been told about customer service, but please hear me out.

It really boils down to this: if a customer is repeatedly or excessively rude; doesn’t pay you; or makes unreasonable, illegal, or unfair demands, then the best thing might be to let the customer go. You do have the power to fire customers. If you want to get a little more detail and some personal experiences on this subject, check out our blog post, “Is the Customer Always Right?”

More Tips

Give these tips a try and watch your business grow! It might take some time, but your efforts will be well worth it!

Interested in more tips on how to make more money as an appraiser? We share many more tips in the other articles in this series! (Be sure to watch for the final article next week!) Here they are for easy reference:

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Manage Time

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Upgrade Certifications

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Human Capital

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Manage Business Expenses

How to Make More Money as an Appraiser: Move

Happy appraising!