WHAT IF ALL SURPRISES WERE GOOD?

I suspect we would smile and laugh a lot more with friends and family.

During our 2^nd Quarter chapter meeting we provided Suzanne Brockway with a Good Surprise when we celebrated her 30^th Anniversary as the Executive Director of our Atlanta Area Chapter. Also, there was a Good Surprise for those charged with the almost impossible task of providing an “off-schedule” event including special guests at a Chapter meeting without Suzanne knowing.

I have confirmed with Suzanne that she was clueless until we introduced our special guests which are some of Suzanne’s personal friends and trusted peers – Myria Pitts (ED – TN, AL, MS), Tina Anderson (ED- Nevada) and Ruth Kelton (ED – North Texas) and when it was announced why they were there. I need to send a “Good Job” to Thomas Bass for an excellent job managing the door to allow our guest to enter at the perfect time.

The Chapter presented Suzanne with a Magnolia glass sculpture designed by Frabel, a hard cover book that explained the symbolism of the sculpture and hand-written notes from many of the chapter presidents over the past 30 years, including Gary Bernes, MAI, who hired her 30 years ago. Lastly, there was a video produced including personal messages from many of the past presidents expressing their gratitude and appreciation for her service and friendships.   

It was a pleasure for us all to join Suzanne in smiles and laughter with her friends and our Atlanta Area Chapter family. Well deserved. Thank You Suzanne!

Special and personal thanks to Sandra Winter, MAI, AI-GRS, for accepting my request to oversee this confidential project. I have no idea how she did it?

While the 2^nd Quarter Chapter Meeting was the highlight of the quarter, and possibly the year, there were also several successful educational classes and seminars offered thanks to the intentional planning by our Education Committee.

Our 2nd annual State of Georgia virtual seminar was well received again and will become a staple in our annual seminar offerings. Much of our success can be attributable to our two-time moderator and panel member – David Griffin, MAI, SRA.  

I should acknowledge my late 2^nd Quarter Presidential Message, but since some early 3^rd Quarter updates were a result of the planning and works performed in the 2^nd Quarter, it is only appropriate to report some early known 3^rd Quarter results. So, maybe we consider it a Mid-year update.

Government Relations

We were informed in mid-July by the GREAB and not National AI, that Scott DeBlasio, Director of Government Affairs – Appraisal Institute, would be addressing the GREAB on July 17. Reportedly, Georgia was one of two States that had not approved PAREA. The top of our chapter leadership invited DeBlasio to join us for last minute zoom call on the afternoon before the meeting and offered our assistance but encouraged him and National AI to adopt a more cooperative spirit.  The results as published by the AI’s “Appraisal Now” weekly newsletter are follows:

Georgia Board Votes on PAREA

“On Wednesday, AI Director of Government Affairs, Scott DiBiasio and Greater Atlanta Chapter President, Michael Hunter, MAI attended the bi-monthly meeting of the Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board. During the meeting, the Board discussed the Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) and whether it should be accepted in the State. Scott and Michael updated the Board on the status of the program and answered questions. Following the discussion, the Board voted to direct staff to open the rulemaking process to allow for PAREA as an alternative and equivalent pathway to obtain all of the experience necessary to become a licensed or certified residential appraiser. AI and the Greater Atlanta Chapter look forward to continuing to work with the Board during the rulemaking process.”

We will attend the September Board meeting to review the proposed Georgia Rules and work with National AI and the GREAB during any mark-up period with cooperative spirits to hopefully provide a proposed Rule for public comment in January. I anticipate a call-to-action from our members during the public comment period. Stay tuned. 

Education

Our Education Committee has been very selective, intentional and successful this year in our offerings of seminars and courses, both in-person and virtual. I was just informed that our Atlanta sponsored virtual offering of the new AI seminar, Affordable Housing, on 9/19 has attendees from 14 states.

As I mentioned in the last Newsletter, National AI changes are very fluid, but our Atlanta Area Chapter leadership has been monitoring anticipated changes.

The National AI is currently implementing its new Education Program where National will schedule and advertise the courses and rely on the selected HUB (chapters) to coordinate the venue and other logistics. In exchange, there are certain expense and revenue sharing with the Host Chapter and a very limited liability for the Host. In late July, the Atlanta Area Chapter and others were offered four residential courses to be provided by the end of this year. Due to the urgent matter, we declined and agreed to work with them for a 2025 schedule.

You should be confident that our Education Committee, Chapter leadership and Board have eyes wide open and will continue to make informed decisions.

Please attend our largest event of the year – State of Atlanta on October 17 at the Cobb Energy & Performing Arts Center.

I would like to acknowledge Andy Sheppard, MAI, AI-GRS, and the rest of the Education Committee for their efforts this year.

Social Panel

I will continue to give Patrick Adamson, MAI, SRA, our 2022 Chapter President, credit for insisting on in-person events in 2022 when I was saying it’s too early due to COVID. He was right and here we are Rockin’ and Rolling. I cannot go without acknowledging Bo Bass, MAI, our 2023 President, for embracing the momentum, saying “we need to get everybody together.” In that spirit we formed the Social Panel.

The Social Panel has been charged with providing two free or low-cost Social Events per year with no agenda other than gathering, renewing old relationships and welcoming all newcomers.

The first event had a very large turn-out and resulted in peaked interest in becoming involved in the Chapter, especially from the younger generation. The second event is in the planning stages so keep a look out for details.

I am convinced that these two social events this year are not lost leaders, but investments and they will provide positive returns.  

Please refer to the scheduled Upcoming Events, but not limited to our Braves outing on September 25 and the 2^nd Annual Bass Fishing Tournament on October 24. 

Web Site

At the time of the previous Newsletter, we were led to believe the new Chapter Web Site Templates would be available in 2024. We were recently informed this has been delayed to early 2025. We have no other information but will keep you updated. 

Regarding social media, I would encourage everyone to refrain from participating in any discussions that may be floating around about the Appraisal Institute or any of its members. Just don’t do it. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Another Good Surprise

Several weeks ago, I received a call from Hugh Bass, Sr., MAI, around 9:30 on a Friday morning to let me know he received an unexpected email from National AI to inform him he was the 2024 recipient of the James H. Pritchett Award. He was obviously very surprised and never expected it but humble as always. He did not know he was nominated, as it should be. Like Suzanne’s surprise it was well deserved.

I told Hugh I should shut everything down and go fishing for the day because my day was not going to get any better with this news.

I announced at our 2nd Quarter Board meeting that I had nominated Hugh. George Petkovich, MAI, also acknowledged that he and Joe Ball, MAI, both long time Jim Pritchett partners and founders of the award, also nominated Hugh. George and I asked for recommendations and once word got out the recommendations flowed in.

Hugh was trained by Jim Prichett and Joe Ball and Jim would be very proud.

Now that is a Good Surprise! We all join Hugh with our smiles and appreciation for his long service to the Atlanta Area Chapter and always just being Hugh.  

Conclusion

In closing, you should be encouraged by my long update. If it were one paragraph, we’d be complacent and in trouble. Our leadership team is engaged, and our Chapter is a confirmed model for all of AI. 

I hope to see you over the next several months at one or more of our events.

Let’s finish 2024 strong,

Mike