Should appraisers pay to be on an AMC’s approved appraiser list? Is this one way to get new clients? If an AMC solicited you, would you check it out? Now, I work for some AMCs that, frankly, you might not choose to work for. That’s fine. It’s a choice we all make. Understand that most of the areas I work are rural, so AMCs are generally willing to pay more because of this. Some AMC are very demanding. Yet, when I meet those demands, I get a lot of well-paying jobs from them.
Recently, a new AMC asked me to join its panel. While I usually respond positively to these requests, with this particular AMC, I chose to reject their offer. Why? That AMC wanted me to pay it for the privilege of working with them. Nope! Yes, I am all about business opportunities. I am used to “lunch-and-learns” in which I pay for that lunch to get new clients. That’s legitimate, as far as I am concerned. So, how is this AMC’s request any different?
I’m not paying this money in a marketing situation like I am with the lunch-and-learn (or some such event). There is no marketing in paying the AMC to get its work. That just rubs me the wrong way. I also know for a fact there were fly-by-night AMC firms that got a few hundred dollars from a few thousand appraisers, then disappeared into the fog. In other words, the solicitation was a scam by a sham company. For these reasons, I threw the solicitation in the garbage. I would counsel you to do the same.
So, should you pay to be on an AMC’s approved appraiser list? That is a decision only you can make. But I made my decision. And my decision was NO!
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
