Friday, March 29, 2024 | The Latest Buzz for the Appraisal Industry

Don’t Get Lost Walking Down Memory Lane

Why keeping excellent records can help improve your appraisal business

For most of my teenage and young-adult life, I kept a journal. Yeah, I was a nerd. I guess it was cathartic to me; a way to unwind from the day and reflect on what I had or had not accomplished. Recently, I pulled out a few of those journals from when I was first married. Now, my wife and I are celebrating our 20 year anniversary this December, but I was a bit shocked at how vividly the memories came flooding back just by rereading what I had written two decades earlier.  I was also reminded of what a dope I was back then. In clarity, I was able to remember where I was, what I was seeing, and even what I was feeling in some cases. No, I do not remember – like my wife does – what I was wearing. I then pulled some of my old photos. Even better.  A picture truly is worth a thousand words!

I am not that old (compared to some of you fogies out there), but I am already getting to the point in my life where I could probably hide my own Easter eggs. It is quite common for a member of my office staff to contact me with a question about a house I inspected just last week and for me to have no idea what they are talking about. It just does not take long for me to forget; even after only a week!  

The statute of limitations in most states is several years. Imagine being on the witness stand (or before your state board) three or four years after you completed an appraisal and remembering enough about it to speak intelligently. Good luck with that!

The experience of reading old journal entries and browsing through old photos reminded me of the importance of keeping good records. Though I use a tablet (or more recently a  smartphone) in the field, I am liberal with both my notes and photo taking. I do not always put all of those notes or photos in the final appraisal report, but I sure enough keep them in my workfile!  Anything that might come back to help or hurt me is notated.  

It is not unusual for an appraiser to have to revisit a report they have written weeks, months, or even years later. If you keep good notes, it will not take much to bring back the memories in vivid detail. Storage space is cheap. Use it up on notes and photos for every assignment you might be given.  

Human beings are funny creatures.  We think we know ourselves…. until we don’t. While we are doing an appraisal inspection or working on the write up, it is easy to think, “Gee, I will never forget this,” or “If I am ever asked about this report, I will certainly remember why I pulled these comps instead of those ones.”  The fact is, we are not as good as we think. In just a few days, we are likely to have several more reports under our belts and the recognition of things starts to fade.  Give it a few more weeks or months and you will be hard pressed to remember the subject at all.  Interestingly, it is not typically a few hours or days later when ‘that call’ comes. If you are going to defend your report, it is likely to happen months or even years later. Can you reconstruct the narrative? You can if you are a record keeper. We can all be better at that.  

Have any comments or would you like to submit content of your own? Email comments@appraisalbuzz.com

Brent Bowen

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