Texas Appraiser Mentorship & USPAP: Reports, Complaints, Best Practices

Mentorship can mean very different things in the appraisal world. It may support someone entering the profession, help an appraiser through a practicum program, or become part of resolving a complaint, experience audit, or a contingent dismissal. In this episode of Know Your Regulator, we look at how Texas appraiser mentorship really works in practice and what it means for USPAP compliance, reports, and public trust.

Host Cimone Murphree is joined by Bertolino Law Firm Director of Legal Services, Troy Beaulieu, and AQB Certified USPAP instructor Diana Jacob for a practical, case driven conversation that goes well beyond just fixing a single report. Drawing on their experience with state boards and appraisers in multiple states, Troy and Diana unpack issues that show up again and again in real files such as the overreliance on canned comments, weak highest and best use analysis, scope of work problems, and work files that do not actually support the story in the report.

We also explore appraiser mindset and accountability, discussing what effective mentorship sessions look like, why ignoring a board notice makes matters worse, and how honest feedback can push appraisers to review their development process, not just their narrative language. Whether you are facing a complaint, mentoring another appraiser, or looking for ways to strengthen your practice before a problem even arises, this episode offers grounded, practical insight into how thoughtful mentorship can improve your analysis, public trust, and reduce future risk to your license.

Watch Here: https://www.belolaw.com/know-your-regulator/texas-appraiser-mentorship-uspap-reports-complaints-best-practices/

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About Diana Jacob, AQB USPAP Certified Instructor:

Diana Jacob currently resides in Lafayette, LA.  She serves as an advisory consultant on real property appraisal both to independent practicing appraisers, attorneys and school providers of appraisal education.  Over the past decade she has also held the position of quality control of two AMCs and is recognized nationally for her USPAP knowledge.  She currently provides appraisal mentorship services in two State Enforcement Agencies (TX and WV), has taught live classes in 36 states, and was in the first group to become an AQB USPAP Certified Instructor.  She’s written over 25 books for pre-licensed and continuing education and has written numerous articles over her career.  She appeared on CNN, “Your Money”, being interviewed on the topic of the impact of home improvement on property value, featured in Louisiana Woman as a “Trailblazer in Appraisal”, granted recognition in 2013 ATA Appraiser of the Year, and in 2019 the Association of Texas Appraisers Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Get more information, details and resources on Know Your Regulator - https://www.bertolinolaw.com/know-your-regulator/

Transcript

Purpose And Legal Disclaimer

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The purpose of this podcast is to educate and inform. It does not provide legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. While the host is not a lawyer, the content is overseen by licensed counsel. If you need help with a legal matter, you should always consult with a qualified attorney.

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Mentorship can mean different things in the appraisal world. It can apply to someone who is entering the profession, someone completing a practicum program, or someone who is required to complete mentorship as part of resolving a complaint.

Why Appraiser Mentorship Matters

SPEAKER_03 0:29

This is Know Your Regulator. I'm Simone Murphy, and in this episode, we are breaking down appraiser mentorship and some of the biggest issues that appraisers are facing in today's practice. Joining the discussion is Troy Bollier, Director of Legal Services at Bertolino Law Firm, and Diana Jacob, an AQB certified use PAP instructor. We are going to get into what this means, why it matters, and how appraisers can approach this in a way that actually strengthens their practice. Troy, Diana, thank you both so much for joining me.

Mentorship Paths And Practicum Options

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Diana, before we get into things too far, can you briefly introduce yourself and explain the different types of mentorship that you are involved in?

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Well, thank you for having me. I have been in the appraisal business before certification. So it's been a long, long time. And I was very active in the development of the courses that appraisers are required now to take in order to get that. And over the years, I learned that most appraisers really didn't have the education they needed even once certification started. There needed to be somebody being able to help them kind of carve that path. So um having enjoyed the opportunity of three different times being turned in for a violation, I got the experience of working with state enforcement agencies in two different states. And it it all worked out, it all got cleared, but it's a scary place. There just really isn't anybody that you can go to. Well, Texas came up with this mentor program, and Troy was very much a spearheading part of that program. And I had the honor of being on that very first mentor panel that they had. And that allows us, once an appraiser is disciplined, to be able to work with that appraiser. What were the deficiencies? Help design basically a course around them and what they don't know and what they needed to do to move forward in the future. It's very proactive and it makes Texas a better place. It makes the appraiser better at what they do. Uh, it was just a win-win all the way around. There's also uh, I do this type of work also. West Virginia has a mentor program and spaces. If somebody gets disciplined, part of that discipline may result in a mentorship. And so they have uh a few mentors they uh use, and I get to do the leftovers when the when the other mentor is too busy, but it's the same premise, and it helps this appraiser so much do what they need to learn. I also have been involved in personal mentoring, and that's where appraisers uh I have an issue right now with an appraiser saying, I haven't been in trouble. I don't want to be in trouble, I just want to be better at what I do. And there's some questions I have that I don't seem to be able to get any answers to. Can you teach me how to do this? Can you work with me on the next appraisal report or two? Just show me what I'm saying wrong. And then I said, let's talk about how you developed it. Let's not talk about just the reporting, let's talk about how you developed it. And I think that's where the mentorship helps so much on the state level, also in this level. And then we now have a new program out called the Practicum, and I've been involved in that, where the appraisers who can't find a supervisor, who don't have that opportunity, can go into the practicum program and they have field experience as well as education experience, and they have a handful of uh instructors that are also appraisers and also use PAP certified, AQB use PAP certified, and they work with them to teach them. I had a session yesterday morning on how do we do room count. Now I know that seems silly that we should think that's such a difficult, you know, how such an easy thing, but it's not from an appraisal standpoint. How do you identify a room? And what does that look like and how does that matter? So I have that wonderful privilege and opportunity to do all three of those. And I'm gonna tell you I really appreciate Troy because he taught me a lot when I was in that program.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Yeah, Troy is full of knowledge, but it also sounds like you have been very deeply rooted in the industry. Like you said, you you've been around in the appraiser industry before certifications existed. So you really have seen how it has grown and evolved and really deeply understand the requirements of appraisers today.

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Well, thank you. I've had a good practice, I've enjoyed my practice. I feel like I'm in that giving back, paying it forward stage, and that's the best stage of all.

Where Mentorship Shows Up

SPEAKER_04 5:27

Well, and Diana, I know we've talked about there's a lot of different ways that someone might be looking at mentorship. It might be from a complaint, it might be what the board calls a contingent dismissal. It might, like you said, be someone who's just trying to be proactive and get better at what they do. It could even be the result of an experience audit. Um, so there's a number of ways this could all kind of develop and different issues that may come up. It may be use PAP issues, it could be reporting issues, work file documentation is a common one. We've seen scope of work and maybe even how someone is applying the approaches to value. I'd love to hear from you when when you see uh mentorship coming up in these different contexts, um, what does it typically look like in practice when you're working with someone?

Canned Comments And HBU Gaps

SPEAKER_01 6:17

I think if I had to label one at the absolute top of the list, it would be inappropriate use of canned comments. Uh what I do when I have that opportunity to be a mentor is before I read what the investigator has found, uh, I know there's some issues or they wouldn't be in this situation. I read their appraisal report and I read it from top to bottom and bottom to top, uh, just to see my first reaction of what's there and and what's not there, and boy, I sure hope they have a work file that supports what they said here. The second most common to me is the inability to understand what an highest and best use analysis really is, how it should be done, and certainly how it should be spoken about in the narrative comments, because what I see are some of the same canned comments, and it's like you didn't tell me anything other than what highest and best use is. You didn't tell me how you applied what you know to this property. So let's let's talk about why not and why did you? Uh but those are I think the most too common things that I've had. And I've had people say, if I did everything you told me to, Diana, I would never make money. That takes too much time. I said, Well, how much time did it take to write 26 pages of canned comments? Cut and paste, and you think they all apply? They don't all apply. I think accountability is the hardest part for them, Troy, is that they they have to come to the surface of accepting responsibility for the fact that there was a deficiency. And then they have to ask themselves, why did it exist? And that's part of what I try to get them to do. Why did this happen? Why did you feel it was okay to skip this step and then get by with it and think that the public trust was being served? Because really ultimately it boils down to public trust. What are we doing as an appraiser to make sure that they can trust in what we say? You've said it many times. A lot of times those complaints come in. The appraiser didn't do anything wrong, it was without merit, and y'all see that immediately and you dismiss it. But it's still frightening to the appraiser to get that complaint.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

Yeah. I completely agree with what you're saying, Diana, that um appraisers get hired because they're market analysts, and a lot of appraisers do forget that the standard under the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice is you need to provide that reasoning that's supporting the opinion or the conclusion that you're making. And so a lot of people, like you said, when I worked at the board, but also when I do defense work now, I see people that will give a canned statement regurgitating some textbook definition, but they don't actually do any analysis, any explanation of what's the reasoning process, the grappling with the data that I went through to come to the conclusion that I did, and that part's kind of left out. And that's really um the heart of the issue that I think sometimes appraisers don't realize. Sometimes that doesn't really materially impact the value, but other times, like you said, it can be really significant.

SPEAKER_03 9:42

Are there

Complaint Confusion And Ignoring Notices

SPEAKER_03 9:43

any common misunderstandings that either of you see among appraisers when it comes to complaint-related mentorship specifically?

SPEAKER_01 9:53

What I am always surprised at is how many people try to ignore it. What they think they're doing when they get the message, but when the message is we need to talk, you need to talk. You can't just ignore it. Uh I'm always surprised at that, and then surprised again that they're surprised that they have all of a sudden a major knock at the door that says, You're in trouble. And uh I've heard it anywhere from, well, that's not the report that I finished. They're they're talking about something that I already took care of. So I figured since I took care of it, I didn't have to answer this. And that's because they didn't understand that in Troy, you can go into the whys, but when the board receives a complaint, oftentimes it's not the final revised report that goes with the complaint, which is why one of the questions that they ask in the complaint form is if you have any other appraisal reports, please send them in so that we can know. Because often that complaint is filed against the original appraisal report, and many times it's because they were frustrated with the appraiser and didn't get the outcome they wanted. And so this is the avenue they took. And the appraiser has this misconception that since that wasn't the final report, this complaint is not something they have to deal with.

SPEAKER_04 11:16

Yeah, it's it's easy for anyone um in a regulated context to get confused because there is a lot of legal process. That's why it's so important to have a knowledgeable attorney involved. I think that's one of the big issues is people can get confused. Okay, I've been sent this notice by the board that they want me to take mentorship. Is this because they're proposing I be disciplined? Is this because they're saying it's a contingent dismissal, or if I do this, they'll dismiss it and there won't be a disciplinary mark on my record? So there can be a lot of different contexts where this comes up, and it can sometimes be confusing to the appraiser like, what's the significance if I agree to do this? And that's where having good legal advice comes in for sure. But um, Diana, I I would love to know um what kind of mindset, you know, given that backdrop, what do you think's a good mindset for an appraiser who's who's facing doing mentorship, whether voluntarily or or because there's kind of uh some sort of board activity related to it that that's gonna give them the most value out of that process?

The Mindset That Gets Results

SPEAKER_01 12:26

What I have found, and I will say 99% of the time, there was only one time where I had a mentorship with the appraiser when I sat down and and and so that people understand, mentors don't just read the information and then say have a meeting. I mean, I know for me, it takes usually two for every one-hour mentorship, usually takes at least two hours to prepare for that one hour. So I've got like three hours in a one hour if there were such a thing. So that's they take it seriously. We take it seriously. But this particular appraiser said as I sat down with my little stack of stuff, he said, I just want to tell you right now, I'm doing this because I have to. I don't really care what you say, I'm not gonna listen to anything that you say. I'm not going to pay any attention to your use, Pap, because I know that's what you want to talk about. And I said, Well, sir, you're gonna you're gonna like what I have to say then. He said, Well, I don't know how. I said, the meeting is over. We're done. And I called the board and I said, he needs to go somewhere, but it's not with me because he doesn't understand how important it is. The rest of the time, and it's only happened to me the one time, the rest of the time, they will be a little apprehensive because they think I'm there to judge them. And I'm not there to judge them. I'm there to help them judge themselves, you know, and and so what I do is I say, let's talk about what the finding was, what what you're supposed to be covering today, but let's talk about why that happened. Can you tell me why it happened? And usually when they see that I'm I really am trying to understand what was the basis. One of the situations I had that came up recently, the appraiser said, probably shouldn't have taken that assignment. I was going through a divorce and I was just, I was really not in the game, as they say. That happens a lot, Troy, a lot. Where they knew that they weren't in the right state of mind to concentrate on being the analyst that they're called to be. And they just went through the motions thinking that they could get it done and get paid and move on, but weren't really focused on that. So I think their mental state has a a lot of different causes. But their first one is usually uh they're afraid that I'm going to uh come at them with a sledgehammer. Uh I'm not there to to pound them down. I'm I'm there to give them some support. And so it's like, let's let's start from the top. If this house needs to come off this lot, let's get that darling off this lot. Let's start here at the beginning. Let's pretend this is the first time you're seeing this assignment. Tell me what your thoughts were. Where did you go? How did you develop that scope of work? And when they see that I'm interested in their understanding, then they are more palatable to accept the fact that maybe there's some new things they need to learn. That's been my experience. I've been very fortunate that it's been well received. And I've always had them say, I really had hoped I'd never do this. But honestly, Diana, I'm kind of glad this happened because I didn't realize how beneficial it was to me to learn this. I was never given this opportunity when I was being supervised. And there's a lack there, and I don't know how we fix that, Troy, but so oftentimes the supervisors have their delegated task, and and the appraiser who's going there as the trainee is there thinking they're going to learn the whole thing, and they don't always. They don't get that opportunity to practice in all areas. Um, I think if we could improve anything, it would be to help supervisors understand that, you know, you can't just release an appraiser and say they've done all their hours and that appraiser go out with confidence, knowing they know how to do everything, because they don't if they never were given the opportunity to learn it. It's just simple things like how did you come up with the effective age or a more in-depth, how did you do your highest and best use analysis? Even if you can take a simple no-brainer deed restriction zone, you know, it's single family detached, and there's nothing else legally you could expect to do with it, that doesn't automatically mean the house needs to go there. What's the economic part of it? And they aren't necessarily taught that, I think, as much as they could be in the field.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

Diana, kind of to build on that, what are some of those, you know, bigger issues that you're seeing in the knowledge in in the appraiser industry? Where are some areas that maybe um appraisers could know to kind of focus on in education and just maybe or reviewing or be extremely mindful of when they are um you know completing an appraisal?

Workfile Proof And Real Documentation

SPEAKER_01 17:48

I'm gonna say, and I don't remember this, Troy, at what point it was early, early on where Texas offered, they offered, they said, no punishment, just if you want us to look at your appraisal report, just to tell you, uh, I don't, was it a day with the board, something like that, Troy, where they could come in and bring their appraisal report so that investigators could look and say, well, here's where we think you you could improve, you could take more education in this area. But unfortunately, the appraisers were so afraid of what possible judgments could come from that that it didn't get a it wasn't a program that was well received as it should have been. And I do wish we had more of that because the appraisers need to feel safe, but they can't feel safe if they can't be honest about their transparency and accountability. And so to me, what we need is more of appraiser saying, I need taking accountability, I need to be better than what I am. I know I do. I need to find somebody I can trust that will look at my appraisal report and and do it with uh the expectation of helping me understand where I go. And when I say the report, it's not, and Troy will tell you, it's not just the report. It's the work file that's either going to make you or break you. And if that work file has nothing in there but pre-printed MLS sheets, no handwritten no's, no, what do you expect anybody to say? Anyone can go out. I think we had one situation, Troy, where the appraiser decided for their exhibits to just make copies of the phone book. They had gone in, we're appraising a motel, and they just made copies of the phone book listings of the motels and thought that that was sufficient, you know, and you're like, oh no, oh no. So uh yes, some of it is that lacking. I guess I will say it that lacking. And this is not appraisers in the hall. I don't want anybody to think that, but there's just things that appraisers assume will be accepted by the users or the enforcement, and it just can't be because it isn't enough.

SPEAKER_04 20:02

Absolutely.

Proactive Habits To Lower Risk

SPEAKER_04 20:03

And, you know, I think, you know, if for appraisers that are listening out there, I think it would be really helpful. You know, I always tell people to be very proactive. You know, don't wait until you get a complaint or you have an experience on it or you're having some kind of problem. And so I'd be curious what you would tell um appraisers being a mentor and seeing what you see. What are the things that you would tell people to do proactively now so that hopefully that complaint never arrives and that issue never comes up, and you're not having to um deal with with the board about a particular matter? What would you tell those appraisers?

SPEAKER_01 20:44

You know, Texas has probably more pro-reta share of AQB use PEP certified instructors than any other state. These are active practicing appraisers who are extremely knowledgeable in the subject matter for which an appraiser is judged when a complaint comes. So I would say seek out one of those people that you feel you could talk to and say, you know, would you work with me? Would you take a look at this appraisal report or two appraisal, you know, what type of appraisal work do you do? And then seek somebody out who has not only the use path knowledge, but also that expertise in that property type to help them look and say, Well, you should do more about this.

When The Income Approach Goes Wrong

SPEAKER_01 21:32

I had a situation where a person who was in charge of a rather large AMC called and said, Diana, I know I can't put pressure on appraisers, but I have an issue here. It's a uh a duplex, it was one to four family. And he said he had an income approach that showed a much higher value than his. Sales approach. So he decided to reconcile between the two. And and his conclusion was higher than the highest in the sales approach. And he said, I don't want to tell him to change his value, but I have to ask you why would they be so far apart? And I said, But let me guess. He used a gross rent multiplier. And he said, Yes. And I said, realistically, if this is an investment property bought for investment purposes, do you really think an investor would look at this and say, all I need to know about is a multiplier? Or do you think they'd be concerned with some of the expenses that go on with owning this property type based on its age and that type of thing? And he said, Well, obviously that's what it's for. I said, have you considered developing a net operating income statement and using a cap rate with the debt coverage ratio method? And he said, No, that's why they told me to call you, that you would know. I said, So long story short, when we worked it out, the gross rent multiplier wasn't wrong, but it wasn't, you know, you can be truthful and not be accurate. And it wasn't appropriate for this particular assignment. All indicators showed that his uh few sales that he had to draw out a gross rent multiplier was not going to be sufficient enough. When it got worked out, the income approach with the with the NOI and the cap rate with the debt coverage ratio method, which is not hard to get, uh ended up being very close to what his sales approach was. And then he could say, now I can approach the appraiser. I'm not asking him to change the value, I'm asking him to consider the strength of his reconciliation and if he would reconsider that based on this information. Those are the kind of things, Troy, that appraisers don't take the time to figure out why. They they they know they're gonna, you know, I I say it all the time, you know, when I can't find a support for what that pending price is, uh, my first go-to is to wait till 4.55 in the evening to turn that appraisal report in because it buys me another night to sleep before I know we're gonna fight in the morning, you know. Uh we have to be prepared for disappointing others because our goal isn't to disappoint others, but to build public trust. And that means taking the time to figure out why these things are not gelling. There's a reason, and we need to go back and revisit that. And I think having a mentor, having somebody you can count on will help them. And it also points them as one said, I think I need to go back and take more education on the income approach. I said, I think that would help you a lot because they didn't understand the depths of what they

Making Learning Stick After Mentorship

SPEAKER_01 25:03

should have.

SPEAKER_04 25:03

So one of the things I wanted to also ask you, Diana, is you know, when we talk about mentorship, it's part of it's what the mentor's doing and being effective in providing guidance. The other part is having a willing, receptive um appraiser who's actively participating and taking feedback. What have you seen um that makes mentorship really effective? You know, whether, you know, especially in a complaint context, what what have you seen with the different people you've mentored that has really um helped them and been been most effective in in addressing issues so that they don't have a problem that comes back again or another complaint or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

A repeat offender for me is a big heartbreak because if I'm being called the second time, I'm saying, what happened? What happened to what we learned the first time? Now, in some cases, it's a whole different issue. And it wasn't a repeat offense of the same offense. The ones that are problematic are those that just keep doing the same thing over and over again and thinking that they're, you know, they paid their dues, so they're never gonna be questioned again. And that that doesn't work. But what I hear, and I'm just gonna be, I I don't want to be boastful, but what I hear, I have people that send me Mother's Day cards, and I have people that that will email me and say, I was just thinking, or text, say, I was just thinking about you. I've learned so much, and let me tell you where what this has done for my business now that I know what this is and that is, I go with confidence now. When I hear that over and over again, Troy, I know it works. I know it works because I've seen it not just in what they learned that day, but subsequent months later. And I I still have several that will, you know, it might be six months a year, but they'll send me uh an email, just wanted to let you know. I was thinking about you today, and I had this assignment and such and such. And I remember when we talked about this, and I thought it mattered, it stuck. What they learned stuck, and they're better at what they do because of it, because they were willing to be accountable and willing to be transparent about what they didn't know. And goodness gracious, don't we all need to be able to do that?

SPEAKER_04 27:25

When I I completely agree, I think having a growth mindset is really a key to being able to succeed because you know, anybody that doesn't recognize you can always get better, um, you're just starting out with the wrong mindset. And everybody can always, there's always something else you can do. There's new learning. I mean, things are constantly changing in this industry and so many other professions. So there's always an opportunity to learn something new, apply it in a different context. And I completely agree with you. Having that mindset when you come into dealing with a complaint or dealing with your regulator and doing something like this mentorship makes all the difference in the world because you don't want to have to go through it again. You don't want to have to hire a lawyer again, and you don't want the stress and the resource drain and everything that comes with that. So it really behooves anyone in that situation to say, hey, let me do what I need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again. And that's not a negative reflection or a judgment on anyone. That's just everyone needs to do that, right? That's just how we learn and grow and become better at our our craft and um and make sure that we can provide the best services for our clients.

UAD Redesign And Responsible Tech Use

SPEAKER_01 28:40

You know, one of the biggest threats that I see right now pending for everyone is the fear of the technology change that is happening. And of course, by the end of this year, in fact, there was another announcement, I think this morning I read from uh one of my sources that said, you know, Fannie Mae's not backing down. That UAD redesign is going into effect in November. You have a lot of appraisers that are so afraid of it, they're saying, Well, I'm just gonna give up the business, I'm not going to do it. You have other appraisers that are frustrated and angry, saying, I don't have a choice, I have to work, I have to learn it, but I really am ticked off that I have to do this. And I'm at the point where I say, you know, you have to look at this as the opportunity that it is, not the threat that it is. What I do have some apprehension about, concerns about, is that people will learn how to push a button to get a result, but they won't know how what that result means or how to apply it. And they could even abuse it. They wouldn't know to reread maybe what GPT chat said. What did it say? Did you reread that? Does that make sense? Does that go with appraisal? Because the technology is there so that you can use it as a tool to help you get better at what you do, sound better at what you say, uh, but you can't just rely on it without judgment. And that's why I love the new advisory 41 that just got passed just a couple weeks ago. And it's in effect now, even though we still have 18 and uh 35. I think it is, those will go away once we get into the 28th session, and it's going to be standalone AO41. And AL41 talks about the technology, but most importantly, it talks about the appraisers' accountability and understanding what they're doing when they use those programs. And goodness gracious, I hope appraisers read that several times over and each and every time they use something new that they pay attention to it. Because it's it's huge and it's going to make a big difference. People are either going to soar from the mountaintop or they're going to crash and burn. It depends on their attitude, and it depends on how willing they are to understand, not be afraid, not be afraid, but to understand they're in charge.

SPEAKER_04 31:16

And I think that's a great point to remind people that the advisory opinions that the Appraisal Foundation and the Appraisal Standards Board puts out as part of UsePAP are a really helpful tool to be able to see some practical applications of how do you apply use PAP that can be a very theoretical document into really practical circumstances. And you're right, one of the biggest challenges right now is how do we use new technology responsibly as an appraiser and still have to be accountable for our usage of technology. And it's not all that different from lawyers. You know, lawyers can use these large language models to do legal research, but at the end, you're still responsible for the case authority you cite to a court, and it needs to be accurate and correct. And so you have to do your due diligence to understand the technology you're using and apply it appropriately in your profession.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Absolutely. 100%.

Stay Connected And Closing Advice

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Well, before I let you go, Diana, for appraisers listening, whether they may be facing a complaint, they are mentoring someone else, or they are just trying to strengthen their practice, what would be your biggest piece of advice for appraisers to go out and confidently practice in in today's um today's industry?

SPEAKER_01 32:42

I would say stay connected with the organizations that you have that are on top of this. Listen to podcasts, not just one in particular. Listen to different podcasts, read the newsletters that come out, go to the Appraisal Foundation website, look at the events that are coming on, stay connected. I don't think you should go one week without reading what's going on and what's changing. You need to just maybe it's one of your days of the week, like Friday. Maybe you take a Friday and you say, ooh, thank goodness, no phone calls over the weekend. Or maybe Saturday morning, take some time, take a couple of hours to read and stay connected to see what's going on. I have to watch myself because I have so many sources that I can get lost in reading articles every day. And I do read every day these articles because I want to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on, not just with appraisers in the technology, but also with the markets and how the markets are behaving. They need to stay connected, and you cannot operate as a lone wolf on an island and think that you're going to be able to help anybody, including yourself. You have to plug in and you have to use some discernment and you have to be willing to do what's right when nobody's looking.

SPEAKER_02 34:07

Great advice.

SPEAKER_03 34:08

Absolutely. Well, Tri and Diana, thank you so much for joining me and helping me and our audience understand the role that mentorship plays in the appraisal profession. I really appreciate both of your time today.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Thank you, Simone. Thank you, Simona. Appreciate it. Thank you, Troy.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

Diana and Troy, thank you so much for joining me and helping to understand the role that mentorship plays in the appraiser profession. For appraisers listening, the big takeaway is that mentorship is not just about checking off a requirement, whether it is the result of a complaint, you've completed a practicum program, or you're in the process of entering the profession, mentorship can be a very important tool for strengthening judgment, improving your documentation, and reducing the overall future risk to your license. We'll have more resources linked below in the notes so you can make sure that you are on top of your compliance. Be sure to subscribe to Know Your Regulator so you never miss an episode or update about the rules and regulations impacting your professional license. Until next week, stay inspired and continue engaging with your regulatory agency.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Know Your Regulator, the podcast that inspires you to engage.