Crosson Dannis, Inc. | Commercial Appraiser
by Kristin Todd
Allison Wilson started her freshman year at Baylor as a Pre-Med major with dreams of becoming a scientist. After taking her first Biology class, Wilson said, “My hopes of being a scientist left about as quickly as I could drop the class!”
Wilson switched her major to Finance, and soon found her true niche with help from a few Baylor Real Estate professors. Wilson said she took an interest in real estate while taking Dr. Charles Delaney’s Real Estate Valuation course. “That was the only class where I chose to sit on the front row partly because of his charismatic and funny personality, and partly because of my excitement of the subject matter,” she said.
Wilson also credits professor L.M. Dyson for serving as a “major influence” in her decision to enter the real estate industry. She now holds the MAI membership designation from the Appraisal Institute, which involves meeting rigorous real estate education requirements, passing a comprehensive exam, and adhering to a code of ethics in industry practice.
“Appraising is like working a puzzle,” Wilson said. “After you find all of the pieces, you work at putting them together so the property makes sense.”
As a commercial appraiser, Wilson encounters challenges and said appraisers can hold the perception that they must create value in properties. “Sure, appraisers have some pressure on them to put a certain value on a property so that deals can close,” she said. “There has been a lot of negative publicity about unethical appraisers who do this.”
However, Wilson said she is fortunate that her values match those of her employer. “One of the main reasons I am working at Crosson Dannis, Inc. is the reputation of the two owners, Steve Crosson and Chuck Dannis, who have always been honest and straightforward,” she said. “I will never compromise my values and most commercial appraisers in the industry won’t either.”