Same players. Same playbook. Same recycled energy dressed up like progress.
This industry is facing one of its biggest technological shifts in years. That should mean open doors — new ideas, new tools, new voices.
Instead we’re getting familiar names with shinier branding. Companies that got acquired, repackaged, and handed back to us like we wouldn’t notice.
We noticed.
That’s not innovation. That’s a paint job.
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Now — credit where it’s due. There are companies out there making an effort. But when your entire product strategy only serves UAD 3.6 and completely ignores the appraisers still working in 2.6?
That’s not a solution. That’s half a solution.
What this profession actually needs is someone genuinely new at the table. Not a rebrand. Not an acquisition with a press release. Not a familiar name in a new hat.
Someone who understands what appraisers deal with on the ground — and builds something that serves the whole profession. Not just the part that’s easiest to monetize.
We deserve that.
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But while we wait for the industry to get its act together — appraisers need to get their own house in order.
The learning curve on UAD 3.6 is going to be steep. Real. And frustrating at times.
The appraisers who white-knuckle it alone out of pride?
They’re going to feel every inch of that curve.
The ones who collaborate — who share what they’re learning, compare notes, and lean on their professional community — those are the ones who adapt faster, make fewer costly mistakes, and come out ahead.
It’s not complicated. It’s just not always comfortable for a profession built on independence.
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𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
If you want change in this industry, you don’t get it by watching from the sidelines. You get it by becoming the squeaky wheel.
Join a trade organization. Show up to the meetings. Sit on a committee. Ask the hard questions. The KAA, the NAA, your state association — pick one and get involved. These organizations only move as fast as the people willing to push them.
The profession is evolving whether you’re ready or not.
The only question is whether you help shape what it becomes — or spend the next two years playing catch-up.
Your call.
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Hardesty Appraisals 