As this will be my last monthly message, I wanted to take a moment to express what an honor it has been for me to serve as the 2012 president of the Appraisal Institute. The collective efforts and dedication of our members to the Appraisal Institute and to the valuation profession have made the past year a memorable and worthwhile experience … and I am very grateful to everyone for their commitment to the Appraisal Institute.

Registration for 2013 Annual Meeting

The Appraisal Institute will open registration Jan. 28 for the 2013 Annual Meeting, which will be held July 23-25 in Indianapolis. AI Annual Meeting attendees will experience first-class education and exciting networking options, the opportunity to earn Appraisal Institute CE credit and state credit, and the chance to explore the many sports, shopping, nightlife and other social activities in Indianapolis. To learn more about the 2013 Annual Meeting, visit www.appraisalinstitute.org/aiconnect.

Candidate for Designation Advisors

The Appraisal Institute is seeking Designated members to serve as Advisors for the nearly 4,400 Candidates for Designation. Before thinking you don’t have time, please consider the following:

• To become an Advisor, you need merely take a short (less than one hour) online orientation course.
• You may choose how many Candidates for Designation you’d like to advise – from one to 10 individuals.
• Each Candidate for Designation will require a minimum of just four phone calls, emails or visits per year. Advisor activities are flexible to accommodate your schedule.

By encouraging AI Candidates for Designation and monitoring their progress, as needed – encouraging Candidates to manage their own learning and guiding them to appropriate resources – you will:

• Help secure the future of the Appraisal Institute,
• Aid in elevating the professionalism of fellow AI members and
• Potentially earn up to 25 hours of AI continuing education credit.

Please take a moment now to view the free online Advisor orientation on the Appraisal Institute website. And note that Advisors may work with Candidates anywhere, regardless of geographic location.

For more information, visit the Candidate for Designation page or email admissions@appraisalinstitute.org.

Recently, I completed the Advisor orientation and will serve as an Advisor next year. Therefore, I challenge all Designated members to do the same.

AI Stakeholder Forum

Participants in the Appraisal Institute’s Dec. 10 stakeholder forum in Washington, D.C, focused on how real estate valuation professionals can provide support in financial reporting. The Appraisal Institute sponsored the forum, which addressed fair value of real estate for financial reporting, and is developing guidance documents based on several of the discussion topics.

During the one-day event, accounting and auditing executives, government regulators and real estate valuation professionals discussed strategies for collaborating in the financial reporting arena, heard updates from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and learned about standards-setting projects relating to investment properties under way at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board.

Click here to view the SEC’s and PCAOB’s presentations presented at the forum.

BP&E Update

In January, the Appraisal Institute will begin offering a revised Business Practices and Ethics course, which will address topics that were not included in the previous version, such as the Guide Notes to the Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

If you have an “opinion of value,” please share your comments.