About us
(or, who we are and how we built a thriving firm at a time when established firms were going out of business)

The fall of 2008 was arguably the most difficult time in decades to start a new real estate appraisal firm.

Lehman Brothers had just filed for bankruptcy and the world’s economies were teetering on the brink of collapse—because the subprime mortgage market had imploded.

Mortgage financing came to a screeching halt.

Since most appraisal firms live or die on appraising real estate for mortgage finance, long-standing firms started dropping like flies.

That year, despite the odds stacked against us, we started this firm.

We thrived.

Why? For the same reason we left our previous firms: principles.

By sticking to these principles, we were able to succeed where others failed. And while these principles might seem simple or even obvious, the sad reality is that they’re contrary to how most large appraisal firms operate.

These are the principles we started with, and they are the principles we continue to work by every day. We’ve outlined them here: 3-Minute Primer to What Sets Us Apart