AVT operates under the belief that there is no substitute for the “Neighborhood Appraiser.�  Their knowledge of the local market is unique and cannot be duplicated by remote computer analysis.  These local appraisers are hardworking and dependable.  Without question, these gritty individuals will carry out their duties as long as they have the knowledge and tools to do so.

The purpose of AVT is to fill the voids in appraisal practice that result from the rapidly changing appraisal environment.  Appraisers often find themselves engaged in new activities which require the use of technology that has not yet been created.  This is both unfortunate and unacceptable.  It is unfortunate because appraisers are not fully effective in carrying out their duties.  It is unacceptable because it compromises the vital role appraisers perform in the safekeeping of their country’s greatest wealth: real property.  It is AVT’s mission to provide the technologies real estate appraisers require to fulfill their duties.

In this new millennium appraisers find themselves not only in a new time, but in a new environment as well.  This places new and different expectations on the real property appraiser.  Appraisers are responsible for the ramifications their opinions and conclusions have on the consumers they serve.  The value of the appraisal is becoming measurable so the cost of our services must be less than the benefits we provide.  Here appraisers must evolve from form-fillers and template masters to problem solvers.  Make no mistake about it, the profession has changed.  Appraisal practice is more complicated, competitive, critical, and demanding than ever.  The rate of change of services offered and methodologies in the appraisal industry has exceeded the rate of adaptation of most appraisers.  The appraiser’s growth and evolution in response to the changing environment is no longer optional.  Appraisers must have the fortitude to transform their potential into competence and expertise.

About David:
David A. Braun, MAI, SRA, has been an appraiser in the Greater Knoxville area, since 1976.  He was born in St. Louis Missouri, and later moved to Knoxville, Tennessee.  He is a 1976 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business administration.  David received the Appraisal Institute’s SRA in 1980 and MAI in 1999.  David has been appraising most types of properties since 1976.  He is also a licensed real estate broker with sales and management experience.

David is President of Braun & Associates, Inc.  He founded the company in 1983 in Maryville, Tennessee.  Braun & Associates, Inc. is a medium-sized appraisal firm with 12 employees and handles most types of assignments and property types.  He is also president and founder of Automated Valuation Technologies, Inc. (AVT).  AVT produces unique appraisal seminars and software for the practicing appraiser.

David has had “how to� articles published in the Real Estate Valuation Magazine, The Working RE Magazine, and presented white papers on appraisal topics.  He has twice served as President of his local Chapter of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers (now a part of the Appraisal Institute).  He has served on the Appraisal Institute’s Instructor Subcommittee at a National level.  David is currently an approved Appraisal Institute Instructor and is certified by the Appraisal Foundation as a USPAP Instructor.