I spend time in appraisal Facebook forums for one reason only: to observe. I don’t post much. I read. I scroll. I watch how appraisers think. Some are sharp as hell. Some are insightful. Some clearly know their craft. And some… confidently don’t.

 

Every few weeks, the same post shows up in a slightly different flavor:

 

“I’m super dead right now.”
 “Worst month I’ve ever had.”
 “I haven’t received an order all month.”
 “Anyone else seeing this?”

 

And then the comments roll in.

 

A few people say they’re busy.
 A few people say they’re even deader. Most just pile on with a collective group therapy session of misery.

 

Here’s my honest question: what does that accomplish?

 

Why do you care if another appraiser in your market is slow? What does their volume have to do with your business? Comparing how dead you are to how dead someone else is doesn’t pay a bill, doesn’t create a lead, and doesn’t magically make January better.

 

It’s just a bitch fest. What I wish I’d see more of is this:

 

“December was slow. I had no orders. Here’s what I’m doing about it.”

 

Because being slow isn’t the problem. Staying slow is. If December sucked, fine. Acknowledge it. But then answer the only question that actually matters:

 

What’s your plan so this year’s shitty December doesn’t turn into next year’s shitty January?

 

And this is where things usually fall apart. A lot of appraisers are going to do absolutely nothing. They’ll kick the can. They’ll blame rates. They’ll say they’re retiring soon anyway. They’ll keep waiting for the market to save them.

I chose a different route.

 

I’m willing to get up at 7:00 a.m. every Wednesday and spend two hours at a networking meeting.
 I’m willing to meet for coffee and lunch with potential clients during the week.
 I’m willing to spend hours marketing through emails, social media, follow-ups, and actual conversations.
 I’m willing to build relationships instead of waiting for orders to magically appear.

 

And you know what happened?

 

2025 was one of the highest-grossing years of my appraisal career. I’ve been doing this since 2002, and I made more money this year than ever before. That happened in a high-interest-rate environment, with no refinance boom and limited sales activity. That’s not luck. That’s behavior.

 

I recently heard Tony Robbins respond to someone who said, “I have a great idea.” His answer was simple: I don’t care. Because everyone has great ideas. What separates people isn’t ideas. It’s implementation. Action beats an idea every single time.

 

So the next time you feel like posting about how slow you are, go ahead and acknowledge it. Then ask yourself the harder question: What am I actually doing to change this?

 

Create a plan. Create a vision. Take action. Complaining is easy. Doing the work is optional. But only one of those leads to a better year.

Final Thought

If you want help getting out of the slow cycle and building real momentum, that’s exactly why the Appraisal Referral Network exists. It’s built for appraisers who want to take action, not just talk about how dead they are.

 

If you want to make 2026 different, join the network or reach out to me directly. I’m happy to help. There are plenty of solid resources in this profession, but none of them work unless you do.

 

Action beats an idea any day of the week.

Between Christmas and New Year’s, I do what a lot of people do. I sit down and write out goals. Personal goals. Business goals. The whole life inventory.

 

On the personal side, I break things into buckets. Family comes first. What do I want this year to look like with my kids? With my wife? What does a good marriage year actually mean, not just sound like? Then finances. Am I saving? Paying down debt? Buying another property? Investing somewhere new? Friendships matter too. And health. What’s my target weight? More importantly, what am I actually going to do to get there?

 

That last part matters. Goals without a plan are just wishful thinking with better handwriting.

 

I do the same thing on the business side. How much do I want to earn? What should my average fee be? What do I want my average fee to be? What do I want my client mix to look like? Lender work versus private work. Attorneys. Estates. Divorce. And again, the key question is always the same. What are the steps to make this happen?

 

For years, I kept all of this in a Word document. I’d print it out, leave it on my desk, and maybe look at it once a quarter. It was better than nothing, but let’s be honest, that document mostly just sat there judging me.

 

Midway through this past year, I read Do What Matters Most, and it flipped the script for me. The big takeaway was simple. Big goals don’t get done by thinking about them harder. They get done by breaking them into actions you can actually put on a calendar.

 

So I tried something new.

 

I bought a simple weekly planner on Amazon called the Productivity Weekly Planner. Same layout every week. Monday through Friday. No fluff. No motivational quotes yelling at me. Just structure.

 

Each week forces you to take those big, ambitious goals and turn them into small, manageable steps.

 

For example, one of my goals is to host a non-lender panel event in the first quarter. Instead of writing that goal once and hoping it magically happens, I now schedule the work. One week might say “Create marketing flyer.” Another week is “Meet with colleagues to flush out event details.” As the event gets closer, the tasks get more specific. Outreach. Logistics. Follow-ups.

 

I do this for everything. Business goals. Personal goals. Health goals. When I flip the page to a new week, I already know exactly what I should be working on because the thinking was done upfront. No guessing. No scrambling. No pretending I’ll “get to it next week.”

 

The result is progress. Not perfect weeks. Not superhuman discipline. Just consistent forward motion.

If you want to grow your private appraisal business in 2026, this kind of structure matters. Goals are easy. Execution is where most people fall apart.

 

And if you want help growing your non-lender work, expanding your referral network, and staying accountable to real business goals, that’s exactly what the Appraisal Referral Network is built for.

 

Join the Appraisal Referral Network and stop hoping your goals happen. Put them on the calendar and make them happen.

This week, I wanted to share a recent experience I had while completing a divorce appraisal. I was engaged by the wife’s attorney, which is pretty typical for me. In these cases, the spouse is usually my client, and the attorney is added as an intended user. Once the appraisal is complete, I send the report to both the client and their attorney.

 

Sometimes, attorneys request to be the client instead, likely to protect the appraisal as attorney work product. But in most cases I’ve handled, the spouse remains the named client.

 

So, the day before the inspection, I received a text from the wife letting me know her husband would be present during the appointment. That’s fine, not unusual at all. I’ve done 115 divorce-related appraisals this year alone. It’s a major part of my practice, and I’ve learned to expect just about anything.

 

But this particular visit was different. The husband was openly confrontational from the start. He questioned everything: my process, my credibility, and what I would do if the value range ended up between $1 million and $1.5 million. It was clear he was uneasy about the process and likely hoping for a lower value, as he was planning to buy out his spouse. On the other hand, the wife naturally wanted a higher value. Neither reaction surprised me.

 

I was direct with him. I explained that I’m neutral. I don’t care who the value benefits. My job is to analyze the property, collect accurate physical and market data, and support my conclusions in or out of court. I told him he’s free to disagree with my findings or even hire his own appraiser. That’s his right. But I also explained that my process is transparent. I measure the property, note its features and condition, and use recent comparable sales with appropriate adjustments to develop my opinion of value. That’s it. No games.

 

Divorce work often means dealing with two parties who may be at odds. Sometimes, one doesn’t want you there. Sometimes, neither do. A few months ago, I showed up for an inspection with the husband, only to find out he never told his wife I was coming. She was upstairs sleeping and understandably alarmed when a stranger was walking around her home. It created an incredibly uncomfortable situation that could have been avoided with basic communication.

 

These are the realities of family law appraisals. If you’re getting into this niche, be ready for unexpected scenarios. Stay professional, stay neutral, and don’t let tense moments rattle your focus. Your job is to provide credible, supportable analysis no matter the circumstances.

 

If you’re an appraiser looking to grow your non-lender business and gain confidence in the divorce niche, join the Appraisal Referral Network. It’s a space for professionals who want to expand, collaborate, and build a steady stream of private work

If you have been wondering why some appraisers seem to have work thrown at them while others are refreshing their email like it owes them money, here is the truth: it is not about who is lucky. It is about who actually knows how to network.

And no, I am not talking about passing business cards around like Halloween candy.

I am talking about what Jodie Cook spelled out in her Forbes article, “Networking Secrets of High Achievers: What They Do Differently” (Cook, 2024, Forbes). Her take is simple. High achievers do not network like everyone else. They network intentionally. And if you apply her findings to the appraisal world, the difference is night and day.

High achievers lead with value, not desperation

Cook makes a point that the most successful people do not show up asking, “What can you give me?” They show up asking, “How can I help you?”

For appraisers, that is the whole game.

Instead of begging attorneys or agents for appraisal work, shift the script:

  • Create a checklist for attorneys who constantly run into messy files.

  • Give agents a quick market update they can actually use.

  • Offer to review a property for a CPA before tax season chaos kicks in.

When you help people solve problems, the referrals chase you.

They do not work the room. They work the relationship

Cook highlights that high achievers build deeper, fewer, stronger relationships, not 200 weak ones.

This is where appraisers blow it. Too many treat networking like speed dating.

You do not need 200 attorneys. You need 8 who trust you like family.

Make a Top 10 List of referral partners. Probate attorneys, divorce attorneys, real estate agents who do volume, wealth managers, CPAs and so on.

Then actually stay in touch. Not just when you need business, but consistently. That keeps you on the short list when their phone rings.

They bring value to every conversation

High achievers do not show up empty. Cook writes that they always bring a unique perspective or insight.

As an appraiser, you already have intel nobody else has.

  • Market trends before agents catch them

  • Neighborhood changes before Zillow notices

  • The real reason behind rising or falling values

Use that. Show up to a meeting with two real stats, one story, and one tip that makes someone say, “I did not know that.”

That is how you get remembered.

They play the long game

High achievers do not expect instant results. Cook is clear that networking is a long-term investment.

Appraisers need to hear this because too many expect one lunch to equal ten referrals by Monday.

It does not work like that.

Relationships compound. You stay generous, you stay consistent, and you stay visible. Six months later the quiet attorney who never says much suddenly sends you a $3,500 probate referral.

That is the long game.

They are selective, and so should you be

Not everyone is your customer. Cook points out that achievers choose who they invest in.

For appraisers, that means stop chasing dead-end contacts.

If someone does not value your expertise or never sends business, move on. Spend time with the people who understand what you do and appreciate having you as a resource.

Bringing It Back to Appraisers

Networking for appraisers is not about being pushy or pretending to be a polished salesperson. It is about showing up with value, building real relationships, and being the go-to expert in your market.

Follow the habits Cook outlines and you will not just get your name out there. You will build a referral machine.

And if you are inside the Appraisal Referral Network, this is exactly how the top earners operate. They help first. They stay connected. They nurture relationships. And they reap the benefits, including the $2,500 and $3,500 referrals that crossed the platform this week.