Experiences with Firearms as an Appraiser: When Tenants Behave Unexpectedly in “Their Area”

Appraisers often find themselves in a wide variety of settings and situations. I mean, we are entering people’s homes, somewhere that most people see as their comfort zones and a place they are not open to having a stranger poke around in. We as professionals understand this and usually try to make it as quick and painless as possible. There are those moments where it turns into a “memorable experience” and homeowners or tenants feel like they must make it known we are not welcome.

I personally am batting .1000 this year on multi-family properties, where tenants have felt it was necessary for me to get the message, by brandishing a firearm. I will share the following two situations, how I personally managed it, explain why I do not personally carry a concealed firearm, and ask you readers to tell me if this is common or for similar memorable experiences.

The first situation occurred in a smaller rural community. The tenant seemed genuinely nice and welcoming outside and even went as far as letting me interact with his friendly dog, which always makes an appraisal better for me. Once inside his unit, with the door shut and the landlord now outside, he still was friendly. Once I mentioned the various pieces of football memorabilia that were covering all his living room walls, he felt it was time to change the subject. He asked if I ever worry about being out by myself in remote areas and asked what I did for personal protection. This alerted my Spider Senses a bit of course, but before I could answer, he slowly moved his shirt and motorcycle vest, revealing his holstered pistol, and told me that he always carries this at all times. He wasn’t being aggressive in any way, so I just started asking questions about what brand and caliber it was and asked more about his memorabilia. This seemed to move the situation along. After hearing all about various pieces of his collection, I just said I need to get a move on with the appraisal of the property, and welcomed him to follow me around his duplex unit. I conducted my appraisal inspection as quickly and efficiently as I could and went on to the next unit. At the end he was friendly and even asked for my card.

The second one occurred just this week, at a fourplex in a suburban setting, but at the end of the appraisal inspection. After the realtor had taken me through the entire residential building of the property, I let him know I still needed to do the garage inspection portion, and he told me I was free to do it, but he had to leave. Everything else had gone smoothly up to this point, so I felt more than comfortable going around the property by myself. I inspected the first garage bay, then the utility room in-between, and moved onto the second two car garage bay. This is where it got interesting. As soon as I opened the pedestrian door to the garage bay, I heard a dog barking at me, and a woman in her twenties squeezed her head out a doorway which was sealed off by overlapping taught white sheets. It reminded me of the scene in Ace Ventura Pet Detective, when Jim Carrey’s head was sticking out the back of the rhino. I recognized her as someone who was in the first unit I had inspected. She asked if I needed something, as she carefully emerged from the weird doorway setup. I said I just needed to take measurements and pictures of the garage spaces. Luckily, the dog she had was a super friendly little corgi mix, which again helped to temporarily relax the situation. After talking about her dog and the other dog a previous tenant had abandoned, I said I needed to do my thing. She moved out of the way so I could take my picture, but when I asked if I could look inside the storage area, with the weird doorway setup, she changed. Her eyes started darting around as she backed up to the doorway and I noticed the pistol, which was about shoulder height next to the doorway. Still looking nervous, she just started saying “no, no, no, no” and moving her head back and forth, with eyes still zooming around. I simply said ok and told her to have a nice day, as I calmly backed out of the space, made my way back to my vehicle, because I don’t care what she is doing back there, and I am not getting shot for a $600 appraisal.

While I am fairly certain the comments will come about how I should get a CCW (concealed carry license), especially based on my past professions as a Veteran and Police Officer, I do not feel this is necessary. This is not due to any ideology about guns or a political view. I just see it as something that could complicate situations and upset customers that have issues with weapons, especially in their own home. As a real estate appraiser, it is important to remember we are guests in someone’s home, we have our own reputation to uphold, and as a business owner I must protect my business image. 

In both my Coast Guard and police training, we are taught to deescalate situations, keep things as calm as possible, and only to escalate use of force when it is called upon. In both the above situations, I was able to keep myself calm, the tenant calm, and to redirect to deescalate their actions. You might not think of it, but this is why police officers approach a car, they tend to ask a lot of questions and sometimes say something humorous, while they can assess the situation, and look around your car for any potential threats and illegal items. This keeps people focusing on the questions and/or commands and not being able to focus on other ideas or actions.

In conclusion, an appraiser’s role is filled with unique challenges that can test your resolve and push you to your limits as a professional. You must always be prepared, prioritize your own safety and those around you, and calmly manage each encounter with the utmost care and respect you would expect from anyone else. Whether you are an appraiser, realtor, home inspector or any one of the other critical real estate professionals, it is important for us to share and learn from each other’s experiences. I’d love to hear some of your most interesting encounters in the comments below.