Commercial Appraiser Earns MAI Designation

Jordan Karnes, 29, is one of the youngest people in Arkansas with an MAI designation. Karnes, an appraiser with Fayetteville’s Reed and Associates Inc., earned the designation from Appraisal Institute of Chicago in September.

MAI used to stand for “Member Appraisal Institute,” but now it is used only as a designation for appraisers trained and experienced in commercial real estate and who advise clients on investment decisions.

The AI requires members to have at least 4,500 hours of specialized experience, provide a demonstration appraisal report and pass a comprehensive final exam after about 200 hours of classroom work.

According to AI, there are 15 commercial appraisers with the designation within 50 miles of Springdale. Six of them work for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and one is an appraiser with Arvest Bank; none  of those seven accept outside fee assignments. One of the others is Karnes’ employer, Tom Reed.

The designation was an important milestone for Karnes, who hopes to have a long career in Northwest Arkansas’ real estate market.

Karnes wouldn’t say how many reports he’s prepared this year, or what the combined value might be, but work is slower, he said.  

There is less recent sales data to use, Karnes said, so it’s very important to be able to interpret the data.