Let’s talk about “The Guy.”
In an episode of Two and a Half Men, the two protagonists, Charlie and Alan, are watching television. Charlie’s rooftop antenna fails, thus making it impossible to watch television until somebody repairs the problem of the antenna. Charlie indicates that he will “call the guy” to fix it. Alan objects, indicating he can repair the antenna, thus save the charge from the technician, as well as the time lost waiting until the technician arrives. Charlie questions Alan’s sanity, then comedy and mayhem ensue. Alan summits the roof to fix the antenna. Of course, he falls off. While comedy and mayhem ensues, both are at Alan’s expense because of the injuries he suffered from the fall. When Charlie brings Alan home from the emergency room Alan is wrapped in braces, bandages, and splints. Further, the doctor has given him some powerful drugs for the pain Alan will inevitable suffer. Alan lies down on the couch, suffering, Charlie looks at him and says, “why didn’t you just call the guy?” Alan, of course, tries to explain the saving of time and money but, given his current state, that excuse is silly.
It is common for appraisers to be grateful for the quantity of work they have at any given time. It’s also common for them to lament the time it takes to produce an appraisal report from A to Z. Maybe appraisers should heed Charlie’s advice and “call the guy.” In this case, to “call the guy” means to hire (likely on a temporary basis) some type of contractor or assistant to carry out the assignments that, frankly, are beneath what an appraiser should be doing.
Given an appraiser’s training, experience, education, expertise, and so forth, assuming that appraiser is the business owner and/or the office manager, there is no reason for that appraiser to be typing reports, taking photographs (unless the client demands otherwise), doing basic research, visiting the office supply store, making bank deposits, and so forth. Those are tasks that lower-paid trainees or contractors can and should complete. The senior appraiser should be engaged in generating as many billable hours as possible.
By delegating these less-than-important tasks, the senior appraiser frees up his/her time. Here are some of the benefits of that:
- More time to invest in appraisals; and/or
- More time to invest in marketing and public relations; and/or
- More time to invest in family and friends; and/or
- More time for hobbies, recreation, and self-improvement; and/or
- More time to invest in the quality of the appraisal reports that go out the door.
It’s been my experience as The Appraiser’s Advocate that, due to the demands of deadlines, workloads, and so forth, many appraisers wish they had more time to check their reports for errors, omissions, internal inconsistencies, lapses in logic, and so forth. For example, I recently reviewed an appraisal report in which the appraiser went to a great deal of time and effort to demonstrate that the site, as if vacant, had a value of approximately $500,000. Nevertheless, in the cost approach, the appraiser showed the vacant site value to be $350,000. Unfortunately, this is the type of mistake that could get an appraiser into a great deal of trouble with a state’s investigator, as well as the state board.
When the appraiser and I consulted about this, it was clear this was a simple error, with no intention on the appraiser’s part to mislead or advocate. Yet, despite this inadvertent error, the reviewer called the appraiser on it and, based on this error (as well as a few other minor errors) concluded the appraisal and report did not meet USPAP Standard 1 and 2. Further, the reviewer called for the AMC-client to reject this appraisal report and obtain another. Given this, it is likely this report will eventually find its way to the offices of state appraisal board (unless the appraiser and the AMC can resolve this potential difference). On the other hand, had the appraiser consulted with “the guy” before the appraisal and report went out the door, it is likely the consultant would have found this error, thus helping the appraiser to avoid what may be a costly mistake. Therefore, every so often, it makes sense to consult with “the guy” to avoid errors such as this one, as well as any others. The cost of calling “the guy” is likely less than this appraiser is going to spend on an unpleasant situation with the reviewer, the AMC-client, legal counsel, as well as the state appraisal board and its many rapacious minions. So, to paraphrase Charlie, next time, why don’t you just “call the guy” to avoid this problem in the first place?