Blog

A topic that comes up a lot when I talk with people is how they should dress. Are flip-flops okay? What about a tank top? I remember seeing a picture of an appraiser that he posted himself, dressed in a backward baseball cap, tank top, and sunglasses, ready to go out and work. Ultimately,...

I once read a book called First Things First, by Stephen Covey. That phrase, “first things first,” prompted a lot of thought for me a little while ago, at a time when I was making some big business decisions. These decisions had a big impact on me, on my employees and associates, on...

If there’s one thing that consistently stresses out small business owners more consistently than anything else, it’s the dreaded inbox. Especially as an appraiser, I get 3 or 4 hundred emails per day – actual messages, not spam. Seeing all that unread mail in your inbox can set...

My inbox is my to-do list. If I talk to someone and they need something done, I tell them, “Send me an email.” If I have a task that I need to get done, I send myself an email. Because my inbox is my to-do list, I go crazy if it still has things in it at the end of the day. I know...

Some days things just don’t go right. There are times when you have messages in your inbox coming out your ears, a whole list of phone calls to return, and not even a spare minute to inhale that stale peanut butter and jelly sandwich you were supposed to eat for lunch 3 hours ago. These are...

I had a man reach out to me with a question about a property he had been asked to appraise. It was being listed as a single-family home, but was clearly meant for some other use, probably as a foster type home (he mentioned in his email to me that it had 3 kitchens – one on each floor). His...