President’s message: New Hampshire - Vermont merger - by Katrina Hill

Katrina Hill, Appraisal Institute

The New Hampshire and Vermont Chapters of the Appraisal Institute will be merging to become the New Hampshire - Vermont Chapter, effective January 1, 2017. The merger has been accepted by the Region and by National this summer, with the merger slated for 2017. Both the New Hampshire and the Vermont Chapter boards and membership have approved the merger. We plan to continue holding our chapter meetings and seminars in Concord, NH with some courses to be scheduled for Burlington, VT.

Purpose of the Merger

The purpose of the merger of the Vermont Chapter with the New Hampshire Chapter is to ensure and to maintain an active, relevant and meaningful Appraisal Institute presence in both states. The merger will allow for Vermont residents to have up to two seats on the New Hampshire Board of Directors; to hold two educational offerings in Vermont each year; and to have the possibility of holding one chapter meeting in Vermont each year. Chapter members from Vermont will be able to meet at the two educational offerings held in Vermont each year; at the one possible chapter meeting; or at the New Hampshire chapter meetings & educational offerings held in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire Chapter will benefit from the merger through expanded membership and increased educational offerings.

There will be no leadership changes and the newly formed chapter will have a common Board of Directors, with two seats filled by Appraisal Institute members from Vermont. With this merger, there will be an immediate increase and expansion of educational offerings with the key locations remaining as Concord, NH and Burlington, VT. The expanded services will provide greater opportunities for members, improved candidate mentoring and will allow candidates in both states to potentially qualify for scholarship funds to further their quest for a designation.

Educational Offerings Fall 2016

• September 20 - Paragon Essentials - An overview of the new Multiple Listing Software.

• October 12 - “A Home that Pays Your Energy Bill - Really” - Presented by Sandra Adomatis, at Unity Homes, Walpole, NH (Builder of High-Performance Homes, Homes that are Fossil-Fuel Free & Affordable) with a tour of the builder’s facility.

• October 13 Introduction to Green Buildings - Principles and Concepts.*

• October 14th Case Studies in Appraising Green Residential Buildings.*

*Note: These are two of the four courses in the Appraisal Institute’s Valuation of Sustainable Buildings Professional Development Program whereby an appraiser can become competent in the valuation of “green buildings.” With their specialized features, appraiser competency is of critical importance. Appraisal-users (lenders, attorneys, etc.) are actively looking for appraisers with this competency.

Presenter:  Sandra Adomatis, SRA, is a nationally recognized expert, speaker and instructor on Green Valuation and High Performance buildings. She was a speaker at the 2016 International Builders Show, author of the newly published book, “Residential Green Valuation Tools” and one of the authors of the recent 2015 study “Selling into the Sun: Price Premium of a Multi-State Dataset of Solar Homes.”

• November 15 - Updates on the New Hampshire Economy, presenter Russ Thibeault, Applied Economic Research, Appraiser and Economist.

For more information go to www.ai-nh.com or http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/.

Katrina Hill, SRA, is the 2016 president of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and a certified general appraiser with R.B. Hill Company, Sunapee, NH.