I'm a Florida State University fan, my alma mater. I had a real estate professor teach me my first appraisal course at FSU. Our final exam was to create an entire narrative commercial appraisal. We were warned that any typo would cost the student a letter grade. Ouch. A couple of typos and you receive a failing grade for the class for the semester, game over.
The professor's approach was draconian but he did get his point across. An appraisal generally boils down to one thing - trust. It's an opinion of value after all. Sure there's lots of market data and analysis, but does the appraisal's reliability decrease with typos? Absolutely! A credible value conclusion is substantively improved with proper grammar, formatting and great presentation. Trust is the new currency. Your reputation is your most valuable asset, your brand.
At my firm we are starting a new contest in 2013 aimed at reducing errors in our appraisals, including typos, incorrect grammar, widows and orphans, table and page numbering, and the biggest sin of all - ugly formatting (my huge pet peeve). A typical example is appraisers who insert tiny illegible charts or clown-size large charts that look unprofessional. Any violation of this rule costs the appraiser $5 a pop.
Check out the popular business book Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte. The book aims to transform your presentations to inform, inspire and persuade audiences. Admittedly, appraisals don't often inspire, but your reports definitely should inform and persuade your readers to agree with your value conclusion.
Do you really care about $5? Give it a try at your firm. You might find something tangible about pulling $5 out of your pocket and putting it into the office pool. Even the reviewer should add money to the pot if they miss report mistakes. My office was surprised at how quickly the money adds up.
Typos are like taxes, nobody likes them. If your client calls you out on errors, you feel like Homer Simpson and in the end it costs you time, shrinking your billable hour. Consider automating parts of your appraisals to lessen your staff appraiser's and internal reviewer's monotonous manual hunt to eradicate formatting foes. Once a quarter, take that money and buy your appraisers drinks or better yet, donate the money to charity.
