Create your own Opportunities.

This is a word that most appraisers have forgotten or just don’t even know exists.

In the appraiser world there are 2 types of business. The lender business and what we call private business. Yet many appraisers out there have no idea just how much OTHER business they can create and or generate just by seeking Opportunities:

Most appraisers now, are bound by the lender world and the Appraisal Management companies that send them the lender work. Many are satisfied with what they know and the normal for them. Some branch out and seek the alternative work or what we call private work. However only a few actually go out there and create the opportunity for themselves.

Opportunity: a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

Today so many appraisers or people are waiting for things to fall in place for them to succeed. They wait and wait, they complain and complain that things aren’t going the way they want them to. They have no intent on trying to set out to make things better for themselves. They wait. They have no intent to take the initiative to maybe make things different for themselves. They just wait. Wait because they think that’s how it’s supposed to be and how one day it will come together. They complain of the lack of work. They complain of the lack of pay but yet they are still content. They wait. They wait till others complain with them but still do nothing to make it better. They wait… What are they waiting for? What is going to change if they do nothing? The answer is nothing. But yet they wait.

I got tired of waiting so I started doing. While in my past I was doing things the wrong way, I soon learned the right way of doing. There was one thing in my life missing. The word Opportunity. Like most appraisers I figured signing up with AMCS guaranteed me business and money. I would be the best ever and I would get their business and never have to work for it. See before the crash and AMCS appraisers had to work for their clients. After the crash they were gifted to everyone regardless of their experience and years in business. This became the norm and many appraisers were lost in how to regain business outside the lender world because they lost the one word they always relied upon: OPPORTUNITY.

Before the crash I always stopped in every mortgage office I came upon. I created the opportunity to work with them. I created the dialogue and asked them to give me a chance. Opportunity. It’s what my service business was based upon. It was the golden rule.

Opportunities. I was a guy who created so many issues. I created hatred and made enemies due to my past. It wasn’t until I decided that I needed to do things different that things changed. When I decided to change things other things changed. I was invited to be apart of a conference (one that I had issues with the owner of for years) but she still invited me and now has me on a bigger platform, changes that have allowed me to reach a greater number of people and create other platforms to reach other people which in turn have created bigger opportunities to do more with my knowledge. I never have changed my beliefs but I changed my mind frame in order to create better opportunities than i could have ever imagined.

Fast Forward to today. Appraisers are more divided than ever. Many are ok with the AMC world and many are not. Many are still complaining each and every day of the AMC fees offered as compared to 10 years ago. Many have zero clue how to obtain private work. But my question is this…. What opportunities have you created for yourself? Have you tried to offer other services? Have you tried to use social media? Have you tried to make changes? Have you been involved in other areas that can make you be above others in your area such as a conference, a blog , a podcast, a newsletter? What have you done to create the opportunities for yourself?

Stop complaining that you are owed something. You aren’t owed anything. Neither am I. Start thinking how you did business before the crash. If you are new after the crash then start thinking how you can use your knowledge to better others and yourself. Stop thinking in terms of dollars and start thinking in terms of opportunities. Opportunities usually lead to dollars. Start thinking outside thew box and start believing in yourself instead of others. Example: I just was asked to create a class for the valuation expo to which many do not like. DO i care that many do not like it. NO. Why? Because I’m creating content and an opportunity for myself to be seen. I am creating something for me to advance. But Mark it’s the Expo and run by someone who doesn’t care about appraisers. My response: I am doing what’s best for ME and my business and it’s an opportunity to present myself and my class. My question to you is…. Why would you pass this up? I also will say regardless of others beliefs…. the only one that matters is MINE…

Opportunities don’t always create themselves . You yourself need to create them. It takes hard work and time. (Think Matt Damon and Ben Affleck with the movie Good Will Hunting… If this is still foreign to you then I suggest googling it.) these two didn’t wait. They created the opportunity and well the rest is history. But if you’re like me the jobs that come from the opportunities you created are more special than the ones you wait for.

Stop complaining and start creating.