New Year To Do List for All Appraisers

Friday, January 21, 2022 in Business Tips

The New Year is the perfect time to start new habits and get your office set up for a year of success. I’ve written ten tips that have helped me start the year off right.

1. File the previous years appraisals in storage or on your computer labeled by the year.
2. While in the storage area, or organizing your computer, pull insurance appraisals that are more than 5 years old and send a friendly reminder to your insurance clients who should have their appraisals updated with current replacement values.
3. Clean your office of old magazines, articles, newspapers that you saved to read on a rainy day and never got around to finishing. If you have a great article you want to save, scan and download it into a file for reading at a later date. You can also save digital articles to your phone or browser’s reading list to have access at a later date.
4. Gather receipts for tax filings (Funny how the March 15^th Corporate Tax Filing Date comes around before you realize it). If you don’t have a Tax ID Number, now is the time to get one! You will use it for every filing and every charitable contribution document you complete.
5. Schedule education sessions into your yearly calendar. You will then be able to book other appointments around these important programs.  Participating in year-round continuing education makes your bank of knowledge that much stronger.  Check out the ISA-appraisers.org website for upcoming classes, webinars and office hours to attend.
6. Make a date to network with fellow appraisers in your area, whether that is virtually or in-person. You can catch up and discuss issues related to your specialty.
7. Subscribe to blogs and newsletters that discuss issues applicable to your specialty.  You can also set Google news alerts to deliver articles to your inbox that are relevant to your appraisal interests.
8. Search museums, art and education institutions and local galleries for their listing of scheduled presentations for the year so that you can schedule attending. Many organizations across the globe are offering high quality virtual presentations that would normally only be available to locals and members, take advantage of this opportunity to broaden your education and expertise.  Remember many of these types of presentations can qualify for Continuing Education Credits.
9. Take one day a month to “shop” high end antique stores and art galleries to see the pricing trends today.  Check out the auction results of quality sales when they happen – look at the presale catalogue and then review the actual sales results.  This will help you hone your skills in real time to be able to identify the trends of the market.  You can make this day of the month the same day you network with another member and you can discuss the trends you both see together.
10. Take a day each quarter to check your website for misspellings, grammatical errors and blurry images. You should also send yourself an email from your own address to make sure your signature line, logos and affiliations appear the way you want them to. This is also a great time to check your listing on ISA’s Find a Member directory to make sure things look clean and concise.

Most importantly, take care of yourself and find ways to stay healthy and motivated! Beginning the year with a plan will make things easier and keep you on track to reach your goals.

Happy New Year All!

Judith Martin, ISA CAPP
ISA Director of Education