Our Team Has Expanded

We are excited to have expanded our team after about 2 years of limited growth. Christopher Ronallo is going to be assisting our staff appraisers and in the process, will be working to obtain the experience necessary to transition from his current position as a Licensed Appraiser Trainee to a Staff Appraiser. We are hopeful that this process will take about 16 - 18 months.

Chris came to us having had some experience as an appraiser trainee from a few years ago. In 2018, circumstances beyond his control led to him to needing to find another supervisor. This proved to be difficult and ultimately, he was not successful. He found employment in a different industry but the experience within the appraisal profession left him with the desire to return to appraising.

He started with Town & Country Residential Appraisals in June 2022 and has been working with us behind the scenes getting up to speed with our digital processes, working with the support staff to learn our systems and has now been assisting out on the road with our Senior Staff Appraiser for about 4 weeks. As you can see, in the office he is getting his own assistance from Ninja, the resident office cat.

Ninja assisting our newest team member, Christopher Ronallo

Chris holds a Bachelor Degree in Accounting from Washington and Jefferson college. Prior to appraising, he had over 20 years in accounting with experience in all facets of the business world including an accounting manager for a large company, CFO for a non-profit organization and Controller for a senior living community.

When not working or studying for his appraiser tests, Chris says he leads a boring life and spends most of his free time with family, reading and listening to a variety of podcasts.

We are very pleased to have another team member that will be able to help us continue to provide you with the best appraisal services in a competent and professional manner. If you see Chris, welcome him into the profession and help us wish him all the best in success as he continues on the path to being a Certified Residential Appraiser.

Let The Nurse Take Your Temperature

How many of you go to the doctors office and refuse to allow the nurse to take your temperature or blood pressure? In reality, you are ultimately there to see the doctor. To allow someone who is not the doctor to take your temperature, blood pressure, weight, list of symptoms and medications is not what you paid for, right? You pay for the doctor and you are going to insist that the doctor do everything that needs to be done including everything that the nurse typically does. Let’s face it. The nurse doesn’t have their level of expertise or education, so why would you have someone who is not the doctor do anything for you while in their office? When you think about this scenario, it does sound a little absurd. Most of us don’t even think about it let alone question it.

 Doctors are not the only example. Most professions have multiple levels of expertise that ultimately assist the highest level within the organization. Lawyers have paralegal personnel. Plumbers have apprentices. Professors have graduate students. Coaches have assistant coaches. Presidents have Vice Presidents. Real estate brokers have real estate sales persons.

Well, in our profession, APPRAISERS HAVE TRAINEES.

Real estate appraiser requirements have significantly advanced over the past few decades with increasing educational requirements and a few revisions to the experience process. However, one thing remains the same- you have to be a “trainee” under the supervision of a qualified certified appraiser for a period of time before you are able to fulfill the requirements to become independently certified. I put the word in quotes because, honestly, I don’t like the word. The word “trainee” seems very unprofessional as a term and would be best served to be replaced with the word Intern, Assistant or Apprentice. In essence, when you compare the requirements and process to other professions, that is exactly what they are. They are no less of a professional and are fulfilling the necessary requirements to be fully recognized as a qualified professional.

To find out more about the requirements for the state of Pennsylvania, click here:

PA Real Estate Appraiser Requirements

 In the past, I have trained multiple Appraiser Trainees who are successful independent Certified Appraisers today. Over the years, I have encountered a lack of confidence by clients and/or other parties to a transaction when a trainee is involved, especially when it comes to the portion of the process that is the observations of the actual real estate. It is possible that this is most attributed to the fact that this is the part of the process that is most in view of the general public. At the end of every on site appointment, I tell the person I meet at the property that this is the easiest and least time consuming part of the appraisal process. The portion of the process that no one sees, is the market data analyzing, the report writing and the overall analysis of the property in relation to value. This is the part that takes the longest amount of time, the most experience and the most amount of training.

 Most states have very defined laws as to whether or not a trainee can be at a property without their supervisor. In Pennsylvania, after a trainee has accumulated a minimum of 300 field hours and the supervisor deems them to be competent to complete the inspection independently, they do not need the supervisor on site. Even when the trainee views a property without the supervisor, this does not mean that the appraisal was completed in its entirety by the trainee. At the very least, the supervisor needs to review and attest to the final report even if they were mostly not involved. Typically, the supervisory appraiser has been involved in the comparable selection, the analysis and the final estimate of market value.

 So if you find yourself having an appraisal performed by my office and, as the supervisory appraiser, deems it legal and appropriate to only send the trainee to collect the real property data, just like the nurse in the doctors office, you can be assured the trainee is competent to collect the property data alone and the final report has been thoroughly reviewed, approved and signed by myself.

Stay tuned for next weeks post where I introduce our newest member of the team, Christopher Ronallo, PA Licensed Appraiser Trainee.