Appraisers are natural problem solvers.
It’s what we do every day — highest and best use, market analysis, risk assessment.
But if we’re serious about fixing our own industry, it starts the same way every appraisal does:
👉 Step 1: Define the problem.
The problem isn’t just low fees or slow payments.
It’s not just AMCs consolidating power.
It’s not even just tech platforms pushing us to the margins.
The real problem is that we stopped communicating.
We stopped talking to each other.
We stopped talking to our clients.
We hid behind portals, emails, and checklists and gave away the relationships that made this business work.
The solution?
Regional firms.
Collaborative co-op models where small shops team up.
Real, local networks that can serve lenders better than the Titanic-sized AMCs ever could.
We don’t need to burn the industry down.
We just need to start talking again to each other and to our clients.
The easiest way to start solving the problem is simple:
Pick up the phone. Walk into a lender’s office. Build a network. Build a solution.
We already know how to solve hard problems.
It’s time we treat this one the same way.
Hardesty Appraisals 