The Last Thing I Wanted To Do

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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 download and listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:

7 thoughts on “The Last Thing I Wanted To Do”

  1. I too grew up in a Real Estate house hold. My father was a Broker, then became an appraiser and worked both jobs, endless hours and was not home much. I did not think I wanted any part of that, so I was worked at another job for 8 years that I did not care for. I seen how hard my dad was still working, even when I was in my mid 20’s. So I took the plunge and went to work with him. Both as an agent, and an appraiser. I am glad I did that, because I have enjoyed it for the past 30 years. Our job is not always fun. But I think it is what we make of it. It’s a great profession, and we get to see a continually changing Real Estate World. It is up to us to keep the appraisal business positive. Neither one of my sons are interested in the family business. But who knows, maybe one day.

  2. By his own words Dustin hasn’t been a fulltime appraiser since 2010 (iPhone 4), and is currently a W2 employee for a wannabe AMC. Turning your back, and profiting off the backs of others apparently pays to well for you to stop. Don’t worry Dustin, this industry is ripe with turcoats so we know you have many firends.

    Seek the truth

    1. Although people assume my strong passion is out of anger, I agree Joseph, “I love the profession”. Unfortunately for us, the Dustin’s of the world have long put profits before principles and have run the industry into the ground.

      Seek the truth.

  3. I have been in the profession for the last 25 years and it has been great and I love to do it and it is very easy compared to the alternatives and you make a pretty good living. It has given me knowledge to do some things that are really great (real estate investing) and I think that is where the real value is. Even though the appraisal volume has decreased in the last couple of months my real estate investing company is doing better than ever and the income has been more than my appraisal income for years with alot less time put in, but I never could have been so successful investing without the knowledge gained for the 20,000+ appraisals I have done.

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