I grew up in a real-estate home. My father was involved in real-estate for as long as I can remember. When I was in my teens my dad became an appraiser, and I watched and learned from him how this world worked. Many people would look at the circumstances surrounding my growing up and say, “Of course Dustin became an appraiser!” The apple, as they say, does not fall far from the tree. And in many ways, those people would be right. However, I also became an appraiser despite the fact that my dad was an appraiser.
I absolutely adore my father. Now that I’m older, I can see the circumstances surrounding my father’s employment and know that things were hard. My dad was a business owner, a broker, and agent during the 80’s (and if you know anything about what was going on in the 80’s, you know that the housing market was hard). My parents struggled for a while when I was growing up. But at the time, all I saw was my dad working long weeks without much to show for it. Seeing that, I vowed that I would not ever work in real-estate, especially as an appraiser.
Now, of course, we can see how well that turned out. Despite the fact that an appraiser was the last thing I wanted to be, I ended up making it my profession – and I love it! Sure, there are days that I don’t want to go to work. There are some days that I hate it; there are even days when I question why I’m still doing it. I make goals to change how I do things to make it better. But overall, I love what I do. I look around at my neighbors and friends and realize that what I do really isn’t that bad. And the best part is that, with the many appraisers that I work and talk with, I am finding better ways to do things, and I love it!
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
