There was a time when this business was built on relationships. When your reputation, your knowledge of the market, and your handshake meant something. When realtors, loan officers, and lenders actually knew who the appraiser was—and trusted us to do the job right.
Now? The appraisal world is being carved up by a handful of mega-AMCs who see appraisers not as professionals—but as interchangeable widgets in a compliance factory. And unless we start doing something about it, the one-man shop, the independent boots-on-the-ground expert, will be nothing more than a ghost in the machine.
The Big Players Are Making Moves—Fast
Let’s not sugarcoat it. Class Valuation is swallowing smaller AMCs left and right, stockpiling staff appraisers, and vertically integrating to control the entire process from lender to report. Dart. Voxtur. Others are doing the same. This isn’t innovation—it’s consolidation. It’s the playbook: centralize power, cut costs, and dominate the flow of work.
And while some appraisers are still waiting for things to “go back to normal,” these companies are locking in their systems and scaling like crazy. If you’re not in their funnel, you’re not getting the work. And if you are in their funnel? You’re doing more for less, with less control, and even less appreciation.
This Isn’t a Pity Party—It’s a Wake-Up Call
The truth is, we helped build this machine. We became dependent on AMCs. We stopped nurturing relationships with local lenders. We let the value of the appraiser be defined by turn times and checklists instead of experience and market insight.
But it’s not too late to change the game. Not yet.
Here’s What We Can Do—Right Now
If you’re a solo appraiser or running a small shop, you are not alone. But staying isolated? That’s the trap. We need to start building real connections again—not just with lenders, but with each other.
Here’s how we start:
• Reach out to your fellow appraisers. Build regional networks. Share resources. Trade insights. Create strength in numbers. One-man shops won’t survive this alone—but together, we can compete.
• Educate your realtors and loan officers. Most of them have no idea how the AMC model affects quality or turn times. Show them what working with an actual local appraiser can offer. Get them to encourage lenders to use platforms like Regorra, LenderX, or Mercury Network—anything that gives some choice and control back to appraisers and lenders, without being tied to an AMC middleman.
• Rebuild those local relationships. The lenders in your own backyard? Go talk to them. Show up. Remind them why working directly with a regional appraiser makes their life easier—and their loans safer.
We Don’t Need a Revolution—We Need a Reset
We don’t have to beat the AMCs at their own game. We just have to stop pretending we have to play it. There’s still room in this industry for integrity, for experience, for relationship-based business. But if we keep waiting for things to “correct themselves,” we’ll be watching the end of independent appraising in real time.
The future belongs to those who adapt—but it also belongs to those who remember why they got into this industry in the first place.
If you’re an independent appraiser, don’t go it alone. Find your tribe. Build your network. Take back control of your business.
Let’s stop surviving—and start building again.
Hardesty Appraisals 