The reason I wanted to start this blog was to add fresh and new content to my website and to improve my web ranking. I have procrastinated about making entries because being new to blogging I really did know what to blog about, what someone may be interested in and if I had anything of value to say. Being a real estate appraiser I did what comes natural to me and started doing research and conducting a survey of my friends about blogging.
What I learned was the best blogs are written by someone who has knowledge about the subject matter, has a passion about the subject matter and truly enjoys sharing with others. So I started by making a list of all the things I thought I knew about, was passionate about and that I would want to share with others. My list was short;
While I enjoy cooking, learning about cooking and even helping others cook, I know I am no Bobby Flay or Rachel Ray so I figured this would probably be a subject better blogged about by others.
Next I considered blogging about my grandchildren (one girl and one boy). There is no doubt I am passionate about them, I know a lot about them and they are an endless source of funny stories. They have taught me more about myself than I would have believed possible and so I thought this is what I should blog about. While at first this seemed like a good idea I realized pretty quickly that a blog about my grandkids on a website about real estate appraisal maybe wouldn’t be the best combination. So I decided that maybe that would be another blog for another site. I do make warning within the pages to be written here you may see a reference or two about the grandkids.
The only topic left was real estate and real estate appraisal. My dad was a Realtor, an appraiser and a developer so I have been around real estate all my life. I graduated from the University of New Orleans with the closest thing they had to a degree in real estate, I have attended hundreds of hours in classes about real estate and real estate appraisal and I have been appraising full time since 1983, that’s more than 25 years. I have taught real estate and real estate appraisal to lots of people and I really love what I do. So I figured that is what my blog should be about and it really fits the website.
I hope you enjoy reading the blog, I hope it provides answers to your questions, helps you understand that appraising is more of an art than a science and I hope to spark an idea or two that helps you. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please join in the conversation because that is what a blog is all about.
Ben Oubre, IFAS
Managing Director of IRR-Residential Value Experts
Ben@thevalueexperts.com