Maine Chapter of the Appraisal Institute update - by Donald MacKay

A goal for the Maine Chapter of Appraisal Institute has been to improve the number and quality of our educational offerings, with an eye to attracting appraisers from other regions to our courses. With the bank thresholds increasing, technological changes, and various market and regulatory changes, there are many hot topics that are concerning to appraisers. The Maine Chapter recently surveyed our members and class attendees to find out what they’d like to see in Maine as far as education, and we are following the suggestions from that survey. 

As part of our effort to offer more courses, we recently offered the Appraisal Institute’s 7-hour Advanced Land Valuation course in Freeport on September 6^th, which was very well-attended. Based on comments from attendees, many of our future offerings will take place in the Freeport area, which has been popular with out-of-state appraisers looking to visit Maine and attend a course at the same time. Other planned classes include a course on the Income Approach for Residential Appraisers, plus a two-hour panel on FIRREA and the Interagency Guidelines later in the year. Next year we plan to offer courses related to energy efficiency and/or green properties, as well as expert testimony related courses. Additionally, the Chapter will offer the required 7-hour USPAP sometime in the early part of the New Year. 

As a benefit to members of the Appraisal Institute, we plan to discount some courses for members and offer courses that are hard to find. Our attendees have pointed out that the Freeport area offers proximity to the Portland airport, the restaurants of Portland, the shopping of Freeport, and access to Maine’s legendary shoreline and forests! Also, previous attendees have appreciated Maine’s lack of traffic, ease of finding lodging, and quality instructors who are willing to travel to Maine, at least in the summer or fall! 

Additionally, we will be offering networking and socializing events in conjunction with the courses so appraisers are able to get together and learn about current issues and get to know each other, too. We hope to see you up here soon!

Donald MacKay, MAI, Ph.D., is the president of the Maine Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and is the owner of Forest Research & Valuation in Orono, Me.