How to Build a Successful Work-From-Home Program
February 1, 2021
To keep your real estate appraisers safe and healthy, your workplace has moved from your firm’s office to the home office. Now that your expert appraisers are working from home, you need to find ways to help everyone adapt and continue their work utilizing and employing new methods and practices.
If your appraisers have committed years or decades to working in your office and directly in the field, they may feel panicked while adjusting to tracking, reporting, and holding client meetings from home. Now face-to-face interactions and in-person meetings are limited or no longer an option altogether, so you need to count on technology more than ever before.
So how can you help your team establish an efficient workflow while working from home? You’ll need to develop a new system for your team to adapt to digital processing and define new requirements in order for them to safely continue assessing properties without putting their own or others’ health at risk. You’ll need to encourage your team and offer the necessary resources to help them track and organize their appraisal data from home.
Here is how you can establish an effective work-from-home program for your remote appraiser workforce:
Be Decisive
During these uncertain times, your appraisal team may not know how to maintain stability in their daily work life. As a senior appraiser, you need to make definitive choices to offer guidelines for your staff to follow.
Some essential decisions to make include:
Scheduling
Now that your appraisers are working from home, you need to establish structure for your team and clients to follow. While your office had established hours of operation that circumscribed the time-frame in which your staff worked and interacted with clients, your appraisers may now believe they are obligated to work around the clock because they are not entering or leaving a physical office. They may be conducting client consultations, submitting reports, and tracking properties beyond your original office hours because they no longer apply at home office setting.
It’s important to maintain a stable work structure so your real estate professionals can manage consistency and establish work-life balance. While some work fields have the privilege to allow employees to choose their remote work hours, consider honoring the original scheduling that you followed when your office was open. That way, you can notify your clients that your appraisers are only available within a specific time-frame and cannot continue correspondence or perform assessments beyond these limits.
Approaches to Property Inspections
Your team may also not be sure whether it’s worth leaving their homes to conduct physical inspections. As a leader, you will need to make the difficult decision to confirm whether your staff should continue visiting sites or whether they will need to take time to avoid in-person inspections until it is safe enough.
Open Team Communication Channels
With your appraisers working from home, they can no longer collaborate in-person. If they need advice from you or have questions from peers or other departments like accounting or administration, they can no longer walk over to one another’s desks or offices for fast answers. With more email correspondence or phone tag delays, you may notice a lag in task completion, inter-staff communication, and reporting, causing slower productivity rates.
Now you must guide your team to adjust to digital communication. Avoid the potential mistakes resulting from them assuming their answers rather than seeking help from you or their coworkers. By relying on a communication software platform, your appraisers can continue finding instant solutions so they can complete their work on time and error-free.
Rely on Innovative User-Friendly Appraisal Software
When implementing an efficient work-from-home program, you will want to rely on highly user-friendly appraisal software. Find a platform that is well-organized and logically planned so your real estate experts and team can adjust to using it quickly. It’s best to choose a program where all reporting, tracking, follow-up processes can be completed to ensure simpler functioning.
Remember that your staff has committed years or decades to perform their appraisal duties without such a heavy reliance on technology, so this new approach to working can be overwhelming. Choose the best software that your appraisers can easily navigate and learn to implement into their work.
Valcre offers an innovative appraisal platform that will help your team input valuable data and track clients and their appraisal assignments from anywhere. You’ll find improved efficiency in your ranks, as your staff can rely on Valcre for establishing your work-from-home team’s workflow. Request a free Valcre demo today.
Commercial appraisal is fairly complex. From tax law to construction methods to capitalization rates, an appraiser needs to possess mastery over a broad range of skills and terminology. Of course, the ability to conduct research is essential to any commercial appraisal process. However, a trained appraiser has the expertise to apply that research in appropriate ways. There are several core competencies that a commercial appraiser needs. Here are some of the skills and terms that every commercial appraiser must learn to excel in their field. It’s good for aspiring appraisers and seasoned professionals, as well as their clients, to become familiar with this information. Data Analysis A commercial appraiser is tasked with collecting data from a variety of sources, assessing the big picture, and then drawing conclusions based on that information. They must be able to understand technical and financial data at a deep level. Appraisers compare data and then analyze for trends that must be applied appropriately to the subject of their appraisal. An appraiser must know which data points are relevant, first of all. They must also know how to work with industry-standard databases and pull the appropriate reports. This could include loan servicing history, real estate records, litigation and courtroom proceedings, market trends, and other property records. The ability to analyze data is critical to commercial property valuation. A commercial appraiser must evaluate tax maps, parcel identification numbers, tables with real estate market data, and other complex numeric data. They must be able to perform basic calculations to estimate depreciation or appreciation based on market trends. Familiarity with Regulations like USPAP and Data Security Laws There are national standards for property valuations and every commercial appraiser must conform to these standards. This means ensuring that the appraisal is conducted in accordance with USPAP (Uniform Standards of Appraisal Practice). It’s important that appraisal teams apply administrative oversight to confirm that all team members and appraisal reports are adhering to these regulations. Data security is another essential part of commercial appraisal. Professionals need a tool to organize and protect property data. Not only is this essential for defending private information against cyber threats, but the right tool can help generate reports, too. Relationship Management & Professionalism These are often referred to as “soft skills” but they are no less essential to a commercial appraiser’s business than data analysis. In the course of their analysis, an appraiser may need to interview business owners or tenants. They will conduct onsite investigations of the property, likely coming into contact with curious (or possibly aggressive) people. Appraisers need the right people skills to handle inquiries respectfully. Not only do appraisers need the tools to interview people as part of the appraisal process, but they also need to be effective relationship managers. This means organization, professionalism, and a personable manner to build trust with their clients and members of the industry such as brokers and property managers to gain access to critical market data. Key Appraisal Terms Ad Valorem This term refers to a tax based on the value of a property or transaction. These fees provide revenue to municipal and regional governments. Mass Appraisal This is a process whereby an appraiser assesses the value of a collection of properties. It is typically conducted as of a single date and using a standard methodology with common data. Abatement An abatement is a reduction or invalidation of a property value after ad valorem taxation has already occurred. For example, this might be a reduction in rent levels brought on by rent control. Caveat Emptor Caveat Emptor is a phrase that means “buyer beware.” It implies that the buyer is purchasing the property at their own risk. Access Rights This refers to the private right to access a property. For instance, if a commercial property abuts the site of a forthcoming highway, the owners may make a case for access rights to defend their ability to ingress to and egress from their property. Effective Age The effective age of a property is based on how the improvements have fared over the years. If the building has deteriorated due to weather, for instance, or obsolescence due to new technology has diminished the value, its effective age may be older than its chronological age. Conversely, if a property has been well cared for with regular maintenance and reinvestment over the years, the effective age may in fact be newer than the actual age. Obsolescence Obsolescence refers to depreciation. It’s something that causes the property’s value to diminish. Obsolescence may refer to external factors or new inventions or changes in buyer preferences that simply make the building less desirable and thus less financially valuable. Riparian Rights This term refers to the rights of landowners whose land borders a non-navigable stream or lake. It states that all owners whose land underlies or abuts the water may have equal rights to it. This is in opposition to the prior appropriation doctrine. As you can see, commercial appraisers are highly trained professionals who retain immense knowledge about valuation, data analysis, and market trends. Valcre assists commercial appraisers with cutting-edge technology to stay on top of the job’s technical as well as client-facing requirements. Discover Valcre’s mobile appraisal tool and let it help you track all that data.
If your assessment team constantly struggles with DIY spreadsheets or last-minute scrambles for tax appeals, then it might be time to consider a full-fledged commercial property database. A tech-driven database can be the most powerful tool in an assessor’s toolbox in terms of data management, short format appraisal reporting, and making the most efficient use of your valuable time. The best database tools are cloud-based and easy to use, allowing the entire team to access up-to-date information at any time. A purpose-built database for commercial property is the prudent solution for tax assessors that are serious about building efficiencies into their workflow and providing industry leading solutions that will ultimately benefit the taxpayers. Here’s why any assessment team would benefit from a commercial property database. Swimming in Spreadsheets For decades, commercial appraisers have relied on spreadsheets to track their data. In fact, 82% of commercial tax appraisers rely on spreadsheets. This is a holdover from the earliest days of computer technology. Spreadsheets are no longer an efficient or effective way to store and organize information. By entering data into static spreadsheets , data gets trapped. Spreadsheets are where data goes to die. Data cannot create value for stakeholders, it is difficult to update, and it impedes team collaboration when locked within the limitations of a spreadsheet. The time is past due for your team to blast through these limitations. The right database solution provides all the data storage functionality of a spreadsheet but with the added ability for updates and analysis across an entire team of assessors. Today’s purpose-built commercial valuation databases are engineered to comply with best practices in commercial property data management. With the right database, your information is secure, easier to understand, and much more amenable to scaling up tax revenue protecting practices. Your team should be equipped with an arsenal of tools that make defense of valuation assumptions a seamless process. Augment and Integrate with Your Existing Workflow Unless you are leveraging technology, there are inefficiencies in each of your workflow processes. Sometimes it takes a new tool to highlight the places where you could become more efficient. Luckily, commercial property databases don’t require you to reinvent your entire assessment model. Commercial assessors can easily integrate a commercial property database with their existing assessment tools as a value addition to their workflow practices. Your team won't have to re-learn an entire suite of business tools. Instead, integrate a database into your existing model and discover all the ways that it can augment your current workflow. It’s likely that you’ll find opportunities to increase your efficiency and deliver higher ROI to your team and taxpayers with the addition of the right database tool. Create Value for the Public with Better Data Analysis Collecting accurate data is only half of the battle for commercial assessors. The other half is about data analysis, quality of insights, and speed of delivery with meaningful solutions to negotiate assessed values with private sector owners. When your data is trapped in a static spreadsheet, or worse, trapped in multiple spreadsheets created by different assessors stored in different locations, it is impossible to deliver strong data analysis and timely results that are defensible. A database can act as a singular source of data for everyone on the assessment team. Not only does this reduce mistakes and increase efficiency, but a single data source means that you can generate more confident insights. When it comes to assessment and tax appeal, accurate data analysis is critical. A database can help reduce the cost and improve the outcomes of unfounded tax appeals. The private sector, which successfully challenges assessments, often relies on technology driven platforms that deliver high quality documentation and neat reporting . A purpose-built commercial property database will arm your team with tools for short form valuations and the framework to produce consistent, court-ready reports. Your assessment team’s next move should be to take a hard look at Valcre . This industry-leading database tool will organize your one-off assignments and allows you to weaponize your valuable data. Plus, Valcre generates professional-looking reports, accurate data analysis, and offers an entire suite of valuation tools to generate your market-driven assessment results. The time is now to seek efficient solutions. The time is now to do your homework on Valcre.
Office Pricing May Face Long Road to Recovery More than 18 months after the pandemic transformed millions of office employees into remote workers, the future of the office sector remains one of the hottest topics in commercial real estate. A wide-range of voices has failed to reach anything approaching consensus on the subject. Some predict the vast majority of companies will depend on some level of remote work well into the future, while others forecast that only a precious few prestigious tech firms and other innovative companies will be able to outlast an eventual mandate to return to the traditional office. Post Pandemic Office Survey To gain further insights into the health and expected performance of the post-pandemic office sector post-pandemic, we surveyed appraisers and valuation experts who are at the center of every transaction and consume enormous amounts of comps and public property data on a daily basis. Participants Seventy-six appraisers – whom combined service every commercial real estate asset type across the U.S. and Canada – were questioned about the health and future recovery of the office market. As recently covered in GlobeSt. , their responses reflected the generally murky view of its future – with just over 30 percent deeming the market “unhealthy”, and about half calling its prospects “unclear”. Just under 12 percent of those polled said pricing across the sector was currently healthy in their estimation. The majority of respondents believe that occupier demand for office space could take up to five years to push property values to pre-pandemic levels. Current Rents When asked about current rents for office space, roughly 75 percent of respondents said they believe asking rents are too high, given their read on current market rents for office properties. When asked how long it might take for rents to return to pre-pandemic levels, most agreed that it would be a long road ahead: 34 percent said between 2-3 years, and another 27 percent pegged it at 4-5 years. Roughly 30 percent of respondents took a more rosy view, saying rents would bounce back within the next two years. Appraisers play a critical role in observing market factors for not just the office sector, but all areas of commercial real estate. As the premier software solution for commercial real estate appraisers, Valcre’s users have a wealth of market knowledge and insights that can be extremely valuable and reliable in charting the trajectory of any number of asset types within a given market and on a national scale. Valcre is the premier appraisal software solution for the commercial real estate industry. The platform offers appraisers a singular tool that simplifies job and client management, allowing them to save countless hours by providing access to prior jobs, historical data and comps. Contact us for more information, to schedule a demo or if you’d like to explore our mobile app.
Despite the fact that property appraisals are at the heart of the built environment – it's how we determine the market value of the places in which we live, work and play – many individuals still don't understand exactly what a commercial real estate appraiser does. In a nutshell, commercial real estate appraisal is the process in which a trained and licensed professional assesses the value of a commercial property according to its intended uses. Many seek out commercial real estate appraisal companies when they are looking to buy or sell a storefront, an office building, vacant land, or any other property that’s not residential, while others hire a commercial real estate appraiser for tax appeal purposes. However, that short description does not do justice to the importance of the work done by trained and licensed appraisers. These valuation professionals possess a unique understanding of the market and the many factors that can affect what a commercial property is worth, impacting decisions to buy, sell, and build. Below we discuss the most common types of commercial appraisal and the four steps involved in appraising commercial real estate. Types of Commercial Appraisals When evaluating a commercial property, it’s essential that you find a commercial real estate appraiser (as opposed to residential). Residential appraisers have different training requirements. Contact them, and they will ask you a few questions about the location and history of the property, and discuss commercial appraisal cost. A commercial appraiser has access to specialized databases and understands how to parse and select which information is relevant. For instance, they will check the tax history, zoning, deeds, property damage, potential obsolescence, and other onsite elements to inform their final result. You can use the resulting valuation amount in court, to sell a property, or to change insurance. If you’d like to read a good interview with a real commercial appraiser, check out this post featuring Jeffrey Harris of Harris Property Advisors. First Step: Review the Documentation Don’t make the mistake of trying to fool your commercial real estate appraiser into valuing your property higher than it’s really worth. Property appraisers are particularly bound by their integrity to perform accurate valuations, and they know all the tricks in the book. They know that they might be summoned to court if there’s ever a property dispute, so they make sure they set a number they can back up with proof. Gather up any and all documentation related to income statements, property taxes, renovations, and more. Don’t withhold anything! Be transparent about the property’s history and let your commercial appraiser do their job. If you don’t have a required document, let them know. It happens frequently and your appraiser can recommend ways to solve the problem. Second Step: Site Visit When most people think about commercial real estate appraisals, they imagine a site visit that includes an in-person inspection of the property. This is an important part of the valuation process. Depending on the size and specifics of the commercial property, your appraiser may bring a team. It may take as little as one hour or longer. They may use a smartphone or tablet with the Valcre mobile app to photograph the property, and collect and organize their findings. They will be looking to verify information in your documentation. They will also utilize their training to spot problem areas (and positive areas) that could alter the final valuation of the property. Don’t worry, they’re not there to judge your mess or which end tables you chose for the waiting room. They are primarily examining the structure itself and making observations. Third Step: Research & Analysis Now they must conduct the research and analysis portion of your valuation process. Your commercial real estate appraiser needs to review zoning records and neighborhood demographics to assess the value of your property. Are there any zoning restrictions or violations? What do the data trends indicate about the future viability and value of your property? If it’s a rental building, what are the vacancy rents, and what indications are there that rent is increasing (or decreasing) in your area? This research can take weeks or months, depending on the size and complexity of the property. The commercial appraiser will go through records of public ownership, tax data, and other databases to compare and corroborate information. In combination with their onsite assessment, all of this information goes into the final calculation of your property’s value. Final Step: Valuation Finally, you’ll receive the valuation report . If the appraiser has used the cost approach, the value will be expressed as the amount it would cost to build a replica of your property. This is typically used to evaluate newer properties. Another common assessment approach is income capitalization, which is primarily used to assess income-generating properties like office buildings or any other leased property. Your valuation will take into account how much money your property could generate over its lifetime. A market sales comparison approach is the most common type, and it examines similar buildings and sales figures to determine the market value of your property. Now that you have an official valuation in hand, you can thank your appraiser for a job well done. You are now in a strong position to negotiate a sale of your property. Valcre is the premier appraisal software solution for the commercial real estate industry. The platform offers appraisers a singular tool that simplifies job and client management, allowing them to save countless hours by providing access to prior jobs, historical data and comps. Contact us for more information, to schedule a demo or if you’d like to explore our mobile app.
Meet Valcre At The Appraisal Institute’s 2021 Conference – The Only Way To Conduct More Appraisals, In Less Time Valcre’s New Features + Improved Functionality On Full Display At Upcoming 2021 Appraisal Institute Conference Valcre, CRE’s Premier Appraisal Solution, Sponsors 2021 Appraisal Institute Conference Friends and Valued Clients, This month we’re excited to announce that our team will join hundreds of appraisal professionals in Orlando, Florida for the 2021 Annual Appraisal Institute Conference on Aug. 9-10. After more than a year of pandemic-induced isolation, remote working, and virtual conferences, we’re looking forward to seeing our industry peers in-person to showcase the new integrations and features Valcre has incorporated this past year to further improve appraisal workflow. As the commercial real estate industry’s premier end-to-end appraisal software solution, our team of engineers and appraisal experts have been working tirelessly to deliver solutions that dramatically reduce the time spent on reporting and manual data entry. Valcre is the only platform on the market that offers appraisers: The ability to interactively select individual parcels and automatically load the corresponding property and comp data for more than 150 million properties (data includes accurate prices and values information, land/improvement sizes, county assessment details, tax data and more) Robust options to conduct Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) modeling calculations which easily integrate into appraisal reports The ability to generate customized, branded, and elegantly designed reports Access to a wealth of market analysis captured in sophisticated graphs, charts, and maps The option to conduct building inspections, monitor workflow and access their personal database using our mobile app Demand for appraisals skyrocketed this year after the market recovered from its mild panic at the height of the pandemic. Valuation professionals currently have more business than they can handle, and are actively seeking a modern, organized system that can anticipate their needs and streamline workflows in this new normal. We have made it our mission to address the needs of today’s commercial appraisers with surgical precision by offering a holistic, turnkey solution that completely transforms the tedious and time-consuming appraisal process, saving valuation professionals a minimum of 2 hours a day. Join us at our booth (#18) for a demo and to learn more about our newest features and functionality. We look forward to seeing you there!
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