Our clients have forgotten; and we have allowed them to forget that we are skilled professionals.

Frankly, I think ‘trust’ starts at how the fee is collected (setting aside for the moment how much it is and how it is split up).

In days of old, banks and S&Ls liked to collect the fees because they felt it gave them added control over the deal. I never agreed to such arrangements.

I need to set aside a specific block of time to do an appraisal. This is a period of time in which I do not take or cannot accept other work that could conflict time wise.

The ONLY way I can be sure that my time will be fully and properly compensated is to collect the fee myself. UP FRONT! I have always treated cancellation / refund requests fairly based on how much actual time I have invested.

If the client cannot ‘trust’ me to collect my fee and do the work properly and as agreed with respect to scope; then I simply will NOT trust them to pay me fairly OR to pay me in a timely manner upon completion.

It is a very rare case in which I accept deferred payment beyond the inspection date. Few clients have earned that trust.