This summer has been a busy time for the Appraisal Institute on all levels, national, regional and local. In July, the AI put on its annual LDAC convention in Washington DC. LDAC is designed to serve as a "think tank" of appraisers brought together on a national basis to address issues pertinent to our profession and the AI on a number of levels including AI Standards, Ethics, Education, Best Practices and Leadership Training, among others. LDAC attendees also take an afternoon to reach out to our legislators and lobby them on an all out blitz discussing legislation that is pertinent to our profession. Locally, we sponsored three appraisers from our Chapter. Congratulations go to Mark Verrett, also a Board Member of the AI Houston Chapter, who was this year's LDAC Chairman.  This is a time consuming, volunteer job and Mark presided over record attendance this year.

In August, the AI held its annual National Convention in Las Vegas, coupled with a Super Regional meeting. Among the points of interest discussed at the Region meetings were several upcoming changes to the AI. The AI will be reclassifying the "Associate" status, bringing back the "Candidate" status as "Candidate for Designation." Along with this will be a Candidate's track towards designation that will have a time line attached to it. The historically low numbers of Associates who have moved forward to designation has prompted this move.  The AI will be seeking volunteers at the Chapter level who will be assigned as an Advisor to a Candidate to help encourage the Candidate to maintain timely efforts towards obtaining their designation. If you wish to volunteer to be a Candidate Advisor, please contact Lori Wilkins and let her know.

Also discussed at both meetings was the concern over the aging of our organization. Of our national membership, the median age is 53 overall. Of our designated membership, the median age is 60. These statistics illustrate the need for a more aggressive campaign to encourage more young people to consider appraising as a career and to encourage these young appraisers to advance towards designation.

Nationally, there was a slight decrease in membership in 2010, primarily due to attrition. However, the AI is gaining ground with strong numbers internationally. China and Japan are leading the way with an increasing number of members and of designees. It was also noted that the AI is moving in September to a new office space that will save the national organization over $200,000 in rent.

In August, we held one of our highest attended General Meetings in recent years. AI Houston Vice President Wayne Baer convened a panel of real estate experts to discuss Houston commercial real estate trends. Moderated by Lynny Osenbaugh, the panel represented by Cliff McDaniel (ARA - USA, apartments), Todd Edmonds (Colliers, land), Robert Bailey (Crosswell Greenwood, retail), Janae Evans (Evtex Properties, office) and David Hudson (Duke, industrial) discussed current activity in the market in their respective fields, touching on general market activity, capitalization rates, vacancy levels, pockets of active development and financing opportunities. Many thanks go to the panel of experts for their time, to Wayne for his vision for this meeting and to Lynny and our Chapter Executive Director, Lori Wilkins for their roles in the success of this event.

At the August meeting I also had the privilege of awarding Doug Gilbert, MAI with his MAI certificate and William Coleman, SRA with his SRA certificate.  Chris Meitzen, MAI, SRA could not attend the meeting, but was also recently awarded with his SRA certification. Please join me in extending congratulations to these three gentlemen for achieving their respective designations.

Make sure to go our website www.aihouston.com to refer to our calendar of educational offerings. We still have over five courses remaining in this calendar year to help you satisfy your continuing education needs and/or your required education on your track towards designation.

PLEASE NOTE; the General Meeting originally scheduled for October 18, 2011 is going to be rescheduled to a November 10th so it can be combined with the Installation of our new officers. Your local Board Members continue to strive to make the Houston Chapter of the Appraisal Institute one of the most successful in the country.  We are open to your suggestions or welcome to discussions of any matters you wish to bring to the Board. If you have any interest in future service to the Chapter, at any level (Committee, Board, Region), please do not hesitate to let any Board member know or contact Lori Wilkins.

Best Regards,

Kenneth B. Levenson, MAI
2011 Houston Chapter President

Frank Waltman and Mary Beth Miller recently represented the Chapter at the annual Leadership and Development Council (LDAC) meetings held in late July in Washington, DC.  There were over 100 attendees from around the U.S. who came together to share ideas and get involved in legislative initiatives that impact our profession.  Topics that were discussed over the three-day event centered on the future of AI, including the expansion of membership, international activity, educational improvements, and consulting opportunities (these are summarized  in the links below).

As part of the conference, attendees lobbied their local congressman on two pending bills that could have both positive and negative impacts for appraisers.  One, The Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act of 2011 (SAVE Act), encourages the use of appraisers that have the specialized knowledge in appraising Green Buildings.  The Appraisal Institute supports this Senate backed bill.
 
On the other hand, the Institute opposes a House sponsored bill that dictates appraisal methods and value indications for loans to homebuilders.  Mary Beth and Frank had a successful meeting with House Representative John Culberson who came to understand the negative implications surrounding much of the appraisal related language in the bill.  The most astonishing thing about this extended visit was that it occurred during the peak of the debt ceiling crisis, when congressmen had other things on their mind.     
      
Please click on these links to topic conclusions written by each of the LDAC discussion leaders:

Sharpening Our Skills Beyond Point in Time Real Estate Appraising:Where Do We Grow Now?

Could the Appraisal Institute be home for Non-Real Estate Appraisers? If so, is its name still suitable?

"You, Me, Us & Them: a Growing Presence in a Shrinking World"

Appraisal Institute Education in 2020: What Will It Look Like and How Do We Get There?