Back in the early days of mls computers where speed was measured in baud rate; and possession of one was not universal, it was common practice to either ‘charm’ local agents; beg, or bribe them outright (ok, pay a fee for their time) for comp assistance AND a discussion of the local market we were operating in. It may cost a lunch. But it WORKED! Using sound, generally accepted appraisal techniques almost always negated being ‘new’ to an area. You of course had to bill enough to spend that extra two to three hours dong interviews. THEN keeping an open mind when a dispute arose was critical! In fact I’d argue going into unfamiliar areas is a GOOD thing for agents and developers since the appraiser was far less apt to be arrogantly dismissive of value objections.