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The course walks appraisers through the possibilities and requirements of nonlender appraisal work, including tax rebuttal, prepurchase, prelisting, divorce, estate, and IRS-related work. Students explore the components necessary for private appraisal work, including forms and narrative. USPAP is examined as the minimum foundation for the development and reporting of the appraisals, and students learn supplemental requirements that are unique to various types of private appraisal work.
General best practices are also emphasized, to ensure the best work product. General requirements are presented, applicable to most or all appraisal types; specific needs of various types of work are also emphasized throughout units in the course.
2 hours CE or 3.5 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
This course walks appraisers through the possibilities and requirements of estate and IRS appraisal work, including scenarios, development, and reporting. Students explore the components necessary for private appraisal work in general and apply those elements to this specific type of work. USPAP is examined as the minimum foundation for the development and reporting of the appraisals, and students learn supplemental requirements that are unique to estate and IRS work.
3.5 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
This course will delve into the USPAP Record Keeping rule and breakdown each of the components that should be contained in an appraiser’s workfile. Will also review USPAP’s FAQ while helping the student to analyze other situations where these guidelines would apply. How to create a checklist to ensure that each workfile is correctly assembled. Develop the ability to identify what to retain, when it needs to be retained and why each component is needed in the workfile. They will gain a deeper comprehension of how to prevent common record keeping mistakes. Students will examine real world examples of proper and improper workfiles.
3.5 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
At a time when the real estate market is busier than ever, how can appraisers ensure they are writing reports that not only meet minimum requirements, but also convey their assignment results in the most meaningful manner to receive fewer revision requests? In this 3.5-hour class, appraisers will look beyond the forms to determine the components of understandable and compliant reports, so they can answer their clients’ questions before they are even asked. Students will leave the class with skills and materials to reinvent their reports.
3.5 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
Balancing efficiency, credibility, earnings, and accuracy can be daunting for appraisers. More and more, technology is available to appraisers looking to gain an edge on competition and understand and develop better analytical methods. In this 3.5 hour class, appraisers answer: What are my obligations when relying upon technology? How do analytical tools help me to remain objective? What are these tools and how can I include them in my daily work? How do analytical tools contribute to my reporting of the appraisal and my workfile?
3.5 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
Students walk through the life of an appraisal report as it passes through manual screenings, automated review systems and tools, escalated reviews, formal appraisal reviews, and even periodic or annual spot-check reviews.
Aside from applying lessons learned from understanding the numerous review processes that go into screening reports, students also will consider steps for moving forward in a smarter and more pro-active way, to eliminate errors in the development and reporting processes – before they occur!.
7 hours CE Classroom or Live Online
Joshua Walitt is an AQB Certified USPAP Instructor.
2 hours CE or 3.5 hours CE
Classroom or Live Online
The course introduces new learners to the ANSI Z765 standard for measuring residential dwellings, but is also useful to practitioners who have previously learned the ANSI Z765 standard but might not be using it correctly or simply need a refresher. Text slides and multiple pictures and illustrations are used to ensure learners complete the course with a full understanding of the standard. Multiple real-world scenarios are addressed, including property types, levels, grade, stairs, areas open to below, as well as Fannie Mae requirements and best practices.
The longer version of the course examines the commentary and illustrations from the ANSI Z765 Annex and also reviews applicable sections of the Fannie Mae Selling Guide was well as its Measuring Guidelines (FAQs).
7 hours CE
Classroom or Live Online
Prior to focusing on the comparable sales, participants first focus on the market area itself and market analysis, both in terms of studying various indicators as well as communicating market analysis conclusions to the client within the report. Verification and reconciliation of data is a focus in several units. Distress sales and other non-typical or non-market transactions are examined, in terms of their role in markets and using (or not using) these types of sales in a sales comparison approach. Researching and supporting adjustments are major components in the course, exploring multiple methods and emphasizing data and analysis.
Strengthening the sales comparison approach is critical now more than ever to continue to preserve public trust – through understanding the market, analyzing comparable sales, reporting conclusions, and using consistent, recognized, data-based methods.
3.5 hours CE
Classroom or Live Online
This course reinforce methods and techniques for deriving adjustment estimates for the sales comparison approach. The material is appropriate for trainees, new appraisers, and veteran appraisers needing review of concepts and real-world illustrations. Adjustments are explored for market conditions, garages, square footage, location, condition, and others. Methods employed include paired sales, paired groups, paired resales, graphs and trending, and regression. The course is also designed to allow the instructor, at his or her discretion, to include live applications of Excel, regression, or similar tools for covering the related slides. The course can also be presented in a 3-hour format, with fewer examples.
3.5 hours CE
Classroom or Live Online
This course looks at two separate, but related issues related to the appraiser’s need for reliable data collection: the modernization efforts underway related to property data collection and the measurement standard being used for in-person appraiser inspections as well as how those standards may relate to technology. The class focuses on the GSEs’ desktop, hybrid, PDR, PDC, waivers, and related topics, to give students (appraisers, lenders, AMCs, and other participants) a broad understanding of the “moving parts” related to these types of practices, such as technology, forms, processes, GSE requirements. Data sources and issues surrounding data are also focused on.
This course then moves learners to the ANSI Z765 Measurement Standard from the perspective of a new learner or to remind and refocus learners who already have experience with prior versions of the Standard or who may not have used it consistently or correctly. The course uses text slides to prompt discussion of the standard, scenarios, and application, as well as images for the instructor to draw on, use laser pointer, etc. to illustrate how particular property components are addressed by the standard.
7 hours CE
Classroom or Live Online
This course is designed to prompt students to take a moment to consider basic appraisal practices and methods, to look at them in a new light in terms of correcting any bad habits, inconsistencies in work, or deficiencies in the appraisal process or report. The class begins by examining workfile requirements and typical contents. Because the workfile spans the entire appraisal process and is a companion to the written report, this first section touches on many common practice issues and plants the seeds for deeper discussion on specific topics later in the course.
After the initial workfile section, most of the remaining sections of the class approaches topics from a “case study” type approach, looking at real-world examples to better understand the issues and encourage the instructor and students to work through the problems as a large group or in small groups which report back to the class. Sections address review practice, scope of work considerations, followed by adjustment mishaps, inconsistencies, and deficiencies. Characteristics of properties is covered in another section, which is particularly topical given the more-flexible scopes and inspection types being presented to appraisers by clients. Market analysis, an often-ignored aspect of appraisal work, is emphasized in another section through an additional case study. Finally, reporting is addressed in the final section, ensuring students understand what they are signing in existing and new forms (e.g., 1004, 1004-Desktop, and so on). Further, students will examine the new URAR expected around 2025. Evaluating and discussing the forms sets the stage for understanding how the various topics from the class should be presented in a written report for understandability for the intended user, and specifically showcases highest and best use, contract analysis, and market analysis and trends, areas that many appraisal reports show weakness or deficiencies with.
Walitt Solutions generally does not submit classes for state approvals. Walitt Solutions acts as the instructor and supplies the course materials (slide deck, description, timing, objectives) to providers for the providers to submit to their state regulators for CE approval.
Walitt Solutions is not an appraisal management company and does not provide appraisal management services or legal advice.
Services and communications provided by Walitt Solutions and its personnel do not represent the positions of, and are not made on behalf of, any board, committee, council, task force, association, the Appraisal Standards Board, or other group.