No matter what you call it – pay yourself first, save, setting money aside for a rainy day – making sure you take the first chunk out of your paycheck is an important element of living a prosperous, rewarding life. We’ve all experienced Parkinson’s Law; the idea that we tend to expand our spending t...

Principles are tremendously important tools we can use in our lives to affect change. A principle is an eternal truth. It can be applied across all circumstances, all times, all places, and it is still true. I try to share principles with those I work and interact with each day, including you. These...

We often have experiences that teach us principles of life or business—or in this case, both. And the power of an analogy is such that it can apply to a wide variety of circumstances, like this story of one appraiser who got lost in the middle of the woods but managed to rise above the sticky situat...

Years ago, I went on a nation-wide tour where I met with appraisers in several cities. We discussed what I do as an appraiser and business owner, and how they could improve their businesses. At the beginning of each day, I asked the group I was with what their hourly rate was. By the end everyone co...

Many of you know that I don’t do partnerships. I’ve had some negative experiences in the past, and I don’t like the idea of being a part of one again. Nevertheless, this is a subject that comes up sometimes in the appraisal field. My first piece of advice when it comes to partnerships is this: alway...

I’ve been known to talk a lot about preparing for the unpredictable. A while back someone asked me a question about it. In essence their question was, “Dustin, how can I possibly prepare for the unpredictable if I don’t know what’s going to happen?” It’s a fair question. Let me give you an example.