First day at Insight Realty Advisors, Inc. as a commercial appraisal intern consisted of learning the “front end work” of an appraisal report. Front end work consists of searching through specific county and city websites in order to find tax information on appraised properties in order to include the properties total real estate taxes and the assessor’s market value. Front end also includes searching for zoning information to implement in the report how the property can be utilized (ex: if a property is located in a multiple-family zoning area, housing such as apartments and duplexes can only be used on the property unless the city clears the land under special circumstances). Lastly, exhibits are incorporated in the report in order for a person to have a clear idea of what the property looks like and where the property is located. The appraiser takes pictures of the property, after that I create images from the city’s Geographic Information System (GIS) and Bing Maps to create snapshots of the building from angels like aerial images, or road maps that give a person an idea of where the property is located within a neighborhood, a general location, and a regional location snapshot.
The first day was filled with an incredible amount of information but former Stout instructor of Real Estate Appraisal (PM 391), Tony Lesicka, and his team are great at walking me through step-by-step of their process and are happy to answer any questions! I highly recommend any Real Estate student to take that class- it has completely changed the route I will be taking with my degree as I hope to pursue a career in real estate appraisal. Even if appraisal isn’t a career choice you have in mind, the class is an incredible resource in navigating excel.
