Appraisers' Free Forum

OK, TX, AR, NM, and KS. Added in a few months will be CO and MO.

Got dates, Annie?

We did, but now that Greg is joining me in MA in a few weeks we have to revamp. I'll post them as soon as we get them sorted out!

Annemieke .... what be you doing up in pilgrim country? I bet the leaves are really turning color up there. I lived there for 3 years (72-75) and always liked the fall.

Maybe he could throw on a class in taxachusetts. Might be fun.

Oh, if he is driving to MA, he is probably gonna pass through northeast Ohio. I got a house, I got a spare bed, he is welcome to stop by here. We could probably go get a beer at a nearby watering hole and swap a few lies...........assuming he does not mind hanging out with an old fart.

Tel, my childrens' father was diagnosed with cancer. After 13 radiation treatments and the first of his chemo treatments he developed pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. He was in the ICU for about a week and very sick. The kids were besides themselves so I decided to come up here and take care of things. Jack's kidneys shut down about 10 days ago but they are slowly coming back.

He is being released from the hospital tomorrow but he really should go to a rehab center because he can't walk yet, which he refuses to do. So we are bringing him home and will take care of him here.

Greg is driving up mid November with the dogs and will be here for a few weeks. I have already contacted the 2 appraisal schools tht cover most of New England and offered the USPAP class and two others. One is written by Terry Shields on Rural Residential Buildings and the other is written by us on Market Conditions and the 1004MC. I need to call these schools to follow up which I am hoping to have a chance to do in the next few days.

Poor Greg is working his heinie off because he is doing all the field work and teaching by himself while I do the admin, research and a portion of the report writing from here.

It keeps life interesting ...............

I don't know what route he is taking but will sure I make him aware of your post. I know he would LOVE to meet and hang out with you!

Wow, that is really tough about the cancer. I hope for the best for him, you and your kids.

Well if he comes through Ohio, and he almost has to, I am located about 70 miles south of Cleveland. One way he could go would be I-70 which is about an hour south of me, and the other way would bring him real close to me (where he might take I-80, or I-90 across PA). Might depend a little bit on where in MA where he is heading.

At any rate, I got a barn where the dogs could easily spend the night (sorry, no pets in the house..I got all new carpet and the house is up for sale), 2.5 baths, 4 bedrooms, 3 wooded acres where he can run the dogs a little bit. So whatever I have he is welcome to share for his time here. I see no reason why I would not be here around the middle of November. So there's free beer and food...I'm batching it since my better half is in Louisiana, but a couple of old farts I'm sure could figure out how to make a couple steaks and open a beer bottle. Or my all time favorite is Cincinnati Chilli - 5 way.

I'm located just north of the town of Canal Fulton which is SW of Akron, NE of Massillon, and NW of Canton.

PS, it is a good thing you are doing.

I hope things turn out well for your kids, Annie.

If'n GP decides to drive and takes 70, I'd prolly make the treck up that way and meet up somewhere.

As fer the classes, I'd like to take one (approved for Ohio?). Please forward me the dates.

Wow Annemieke, so sorry to hear about the troubles your family is having. It is great that you are all there for him though!!!!

If you and Greg end up Michigan way, give me a holler as I'd love to see the both of you again.

Hugs, Rachel

Jim Plante wrote:Got dates, Annie?

Let me know when you get Missouri dates and if any will be in KC. I already signed up for a class in December, but I could still cancel at this point.

Doug, TEL, I was planning on heading to CC hard an fast. I planned on a pillow and lots of coffee and guarana laced drinks. When I get tired, pull over nap, wake up and keep going. I will have my Jack Russells with me, and putting them up in a barn or leaving them in the truck is not something I am willing to do. Also one of the nurses that has been really good with Jack has been trying to get a husky pup from Missouri to Mass. I may end up with three dogs in the cab of the truck with me.

However, in looking at street atlas, I will be in Columbus around 13 hours after I leave Tulsa......the house rather. And I am really wanting to meet both of you guys. If I leave here between 5 and 6 AM, I should be in Columbus that evening around 7 (CST). With three dogs I doubt I would be able to afford a motel. I really don't want to spend that kind of time sleeping either. But if we could hook up...if for nothing else some coffee at Denny's or something else equally repulsive (got a Dunkin's along highway 70?). Make some suggestions if you would.....it's you guys' turf........

BTW, what is the chance of slick roads the week or two before Thanksgiving? I may end up going to Cape Cod by way of Nashville......and visit Jim and DB instead........I'm not going to buy snow tires just to visit.

As far as the course is concerned, I am pretty sure getting approved in Ohio is a piece of cake. I am an AQB approved USPAP Instructor, and the material comes from the AF. How about you guys set up a class and I come teach it? We can all make a couple of bucks that way. I can show up at tels place, teach a class or two in the nearby city, and Annemieke and I can hang there and get acquainted. We could then go down to Dougs neck of the woods, perhaps, and do a class in that area. We would need about 10 students per class to break even, but everything above that we could do a split of some kind. Then, too, hopefully in the next three weeks I will have the Green Residential Appraising course competed, and I hope to have a class on Cost Approach and Calculating Depreciation completed by December. I think the Green class will be a two day class and the Cost class a one day. If we can get 10 or so for USPAP 2010, Green, Cost, and Terrells course on Rural Residential (1 day) that gives us a week of instruction for CE. If this is something you guys might like to help coordinate let me know.

I can definitely do Columbus. I-70 exit 97 in Columbus is where Route 40 crosses I-70...there 6-8 fast food joints at that intersection.

If Doug can not make it, I would rather meet you on I-70 at exit 178. This is 2 miles west of the I-70/I-77 intersection. There's a couple of fast food places there as well.

Chances of slick roads are pretty slim. You got a lot better chance of seeing those up in taxachusetts. WE DO HAVE SNOW PLOWS UP THIS WAY AND THEY DO A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF KEEPING THE INTERSTATES CLEAR. I'm not shouting, suddenly my puter started typing in all caps...without the caps lock on. I backed up a couple of times...there's a ghost in my puter. I have been driving up here since 1986 and have never had snow tires. I did about 10 years of it driving a light weight pickup. If you are worried, throw 4-5 40 pound bags of sackrete or sand near the tailgate...really enhances your traction in rotten weather.

On short notice I doubt you could pull a class together up here. Hondros and McKissock pretty well has that sewn up. The little school that I occassionally teach at had an AQB USPAPer lined up to teach the class and she had one heck of a time trying to get enough for a class. I don't think she ever got 10 at the same time. I know Ohio charges about $50 to schedule a class. You have to provide them an outline of your course with the time broken down into about 15 minute increments as to what you are teaching when. This is about a 3-4 week process to go through even if you have all your wagons in a circle when starting the state approval process.

Oh, my personal schedule.... I teach class on the nights of 2, 5, 9, & 12 November. That's a Mon & Thur for 2 weeks. So if you are rolling through on one of those nights, I would not be able to meet you.

If you called us when you hit a point about 3-4 hours before Columbus it would easier to meet you. It would take me about 2.5 hours to get there.


At any rate, keep us posted as to your plans. I would definitely like to meet up with you.

I can do exit 97 (us 40- Broad St.) or exit 110 (Brice Rd).

If you want a cheap room, there are a couple, including a Motel 6, at exit 110. That exit has about everything: Aplebees, Waffle House, Bob Evans, even Chuckie Cheese and Target. If you don't want the motel but need to take a short nap, there is a Flying J at exit 122. They don't mind travelers taking an overnight rest there. They even have showers.

You know how to reach me. Let me know.

I no longer have to teach class on the nights of Nov 5, 9, 12. Not enough people enrolled, so the class was cancelled.

So unless I get a part time job some place, I am good to go any place, any time.

Ditto on the let me know. I'm sure it would be a pleasure for you to meet me. ROFL!!!!!!

We don't ever cancel a class. We remember how annoying it was to re-arrange your week and then get a call the day before that the class was canceled, especially if we needed the hours for license renewal.

We vowed to NEVER ever do that and we don't. It has provided us with quite a loyal following already .... people think it is awesome we do that and have become our students exclusively.

I really should have said it was cancelled for me. My fee to teach the class is more than the school was going to be paid by the students. So the owner of the school is teaching the class. The school also has a policy of never cancelling a class. But I understand them not wanting to take a loss on the class.

As it turns out, I think I have a great shot at a part time job. I should know by tomorrow at 11:30. I just might be a part time handyman fixer upper & 12 passenger van driver for two well known motel chains. The motels are next door to each other and have a shared maintenance department. I'll make a lot more at this than teaching one class every 3 months.