Lawrence Mitchell started as an appraiser trainee, and has achieved a great deal of success in the real estate valuation and brokerage business within a short period of time. He is president of the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors (MIBOR), a 9,000 member board, he’s past president of the Hoosier State Chapter of the Appraisal Institute (at age 33), he’s an Appraisal Committee member of the National Association of Realtors and he’s on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors. He received his MAI designation at age 31. “Recently Larry focused on supporting real property appeals due to the changes in the Indiana real property assessment system,” said nominator Jen Atkinson, also with the company. “His clients include several Fortune 500 companies as well as several major legal and professional firms.”
Mitchell is also a guest speaker at the Institute for Professional Taxation Property Tax Symposium in November 2006. He received his Bachelor of Science from Purdue University and currently resides in Zionsville, Ind. with his wife and three daughters.
I liked the variety in properties, which means I never did the same thing twice. If I was a kid today, my parents would have me on attention deficient medication. The variety created by being an appraiser plays right into my personality. I always say a good appraiser is someone who knows a little about everything and not a lot about any one thing.
What about your job gives you the most satisfaction?
Helping people buy or sell a property, which can be a very traumatic experience.
Appraising a property type that I have never done before. I love to learn a new market.
Keep a good attitude even when you are getting beat up by a client.
I was elected to be local Realtor board president, even though I am an appraiser. The local board of Realtors has almost 8,000 members covering the entire Indianapolis MSA, with only a small percentage being appraisers. This group covers almost the entire real estate gamut including brokers, appraisers, title reps, inspectors, etc. I am proud that I was able to gain enough respect from this large group to be elected as an officer and future president. The next proudest accomplishment was getting my MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute in 2000 at age 32.
My mom, who started the company and is also a MAI.
Strong family support.
It would probably be Winston Churchill to talk about WWII.
I used to be a fairly good drummer in high school.
“The Traveler’s Gift”
National Public Radio
Work in the yard or play golf.
Habitat for Humanity building homes. When I was in college, I worked building houses for a local construction company. That gave me an opportunity to develop some carpentry skills (and work ethic) not enjoyed by all college graduates. Volunteering for Habitat has given me a chance to “swing a hammer” again and help people at the same time. Contributing money to a worthy cause gives you satisfaction, but spending time and energy building a home is much more meaningful to me.
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