We should all seek to expand our footprint into EW work. Competent appraisers have no need to fear it. Don’t be intimidated by oldtimer “hired guns” either. No matter what their credentials are. Some become arrogant and go so far over the line thinking no one will ever challenge anything they write, that they get very sloppy and careless. License violation careless. EW work is actually about as close as we can hope to come to ‘pure’ appraisal. It’s great for those that are detail-oriented in their work.

Not sure where to start? One possible source is http://www.lawyersonline.com It is a subscription service and will charge you about $700 a year. They claim an attorney database accessing their services of about 35,000.

You can call Trish Benter (319) 382-8896 [Iowa time zone I believe]. Like all subscription referral services do your homework and research their services and claims for yourself. My initial contact was today, and I’ve personally decided to try it out. My current EW work is about $15k-$20k a year. I’d like to triple that without becoming a full-time appraiser ambulance chaser. A gamble of 1.17% of the hoped-for return is worth the risk to me.

I’ve tried direct mail in the past and that has very poor results. Word of mouth referrals is the best source. This is hopefully a viable supplement to that.

As FNMA and MISMO and ‘others’ continue to undermine traditional appraisals for loan purposes, we all need to consider expanding our range of services. This is simply one way to do so.

Good luck to all!