national," says Walker.
Over the last six months, he has been
working the phones, contacting the owners of
real estate appraisal firms in many of Canada's
major centres. He introduces BAREA and
explains the association's mandate, and then
invites people to a meeting in their local area.
So far, BAREA has hosted presentations
in Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Kelowna, the
Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa.
"We've been extremely well received in
each city we've visited so far," says Walker, who
was elected vice-president of the new group.
He attributes the success of the grassroots
movement to the fact that real estate appraisers
have historically operated in silos without a
single organization to encourage the sharing of
business ideas.
"So, when I explain we are creating a group
L
eigh Walker, Mike LaPorte and
Dan Jones are fierce competitors
in the world of British Columbia
residential real estate appraisals.
But recently, they've been
collaborating on a new, non-profit initiative for
the common good.
A little over a year ago, Walker – a 23-year
veteran of the residential appraisal industry
– recognized a need for a professional
association that was solely focused on the
mechanics of running an appraisal firm.
"Our world is changing rapidly. e
appraisal landscape is changing so quickly
and it's being driven by technology," he tells
Canadian Mortgage Broker. "It's so important
to stay current."
While the appraisal industry is already
regulated by the Appraisal Institute of Canada
(AIC) and the Canadian National Association
of Real Estate Appraisers (CNAREA),
Walker says those organizations focus on the
regulatory aspect rather than the nuts and
bolts of how professional appraisal firms get
the job done.
As president of Lawrenson Walker Real
Estate Appraisers in Vancouver, Walker
decided to approach two of his local
competitors to discuss the creation of a new,
non-profit industry body that would focus on
helping appraisers do their jobs better.
LaPorte and Jones got behind the idea,
and the Business Association of Real Estate
Appraisers (BAREA) was born. Gradually,
more and more firms signed on. "We started
with 14 firms meeting on a regular basis,
sharing best practices. We had so much success
in B.C. that we decided to take our group
FINDING
COMMON
GROUND
38 | spring 2019 cmba-achc.ca CMB MAGAZINE
A new association is focused on harnessing technology and best practices
to simplify the process of residential real estate appraisals BY LISA GORDON
appraisaltechnology
