Last week, Valuation Expo celebrated its 20th anniversary at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. Hundreds of valuation professionals joined us to learn, network, and prosper. This was the first year under the new ownership as Appraiser eLearning took the reins. There were a lot of firsts this year and a lot of the same great things that make Valuation Expo the largest conference for appraisers across the globe.
Monday started out early for those that had selected the pre-conference sessions. Alan Hummel taught two pre-conference courses for McKissock. Peter Christensen and Jim Baumberger taught classes for Appraiser eLearning. One of our most popular sessions, Lenders & Vendors Live, was back as vendors did quick elevator pitch presentations about their new products and services. Solidifi co-hosted a special session with ADI called Opening the Doors: How ADI and PAREA are Changing the Face of the Appraisal Industry. They had a special networking session afterward to introduce trainees to some of the top thought leaders in the industry.
The opening reception kicked off with a brand-new feature this year, the ValExpo Open! We had 10 sponsored putt-putt golf holes around the trade show floor that attendees could participate in for free. The Champion of this tournament, Larry Sterenbuch, won the $500 purse! While the ValExpo open was a hit we also had a lot of fun with the 7th annual Cornhole Tournament this year sponsored by Restb.ai. Gareth Borcherds and Nick Conteduca took home the championship in a tight championship matchup. The 2nd and 3rd place winners received prizes as well, while “Cornparable Sales” was the winner of the best team. For those that wanted to get right down to business, we had over 40 sponsors and exhibitors represented on the trade show floor who were happy to chat with attendees while everyone took advantage of the buffets and bars.
Tuesday morning started off with a Buzz with coffee sponsored by Restb.ai as attendees jumped into the general session to hear from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Scott Reuter and Lyle Radke touched on appraisal modernization and some problematic words appraisers should avoid in their reports. Next, Ken Defeo and Sean Murphy discussed the new UAD. They showed appraisers what changes were coming through UAD and what they needed to know before we get rid of the old forms. The UAD partnership also had a private meeting room that opened up after this session to allow appraisers to discuss the changes in-person with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teams.
After a great lunch sponsored by ValueLink, we kicked off the afternoon with the Regulatory/Policy Update session featuring James Heaslet of the VA, Michael Schnetzler of the USDA and Peter Christensen of Christensen Law Firm. The evening Networking Reception kicked off with a sponsored bar from McKissock at their booth that offered free drinks for all attendees. We also had a memorial service for Bill King of Bradford Technologies, who tragically passed this year. Jeff Bradford gave a beautiful tribute to Bill. Bill’s wife, two kids, brother and sister were there along with a crowd of folks who knew him well after years of coming to ValExpo and working with him in the industry. They took turns with the microphone sharing favorite memories of him.
We hit the ground running on the last day with coffee sponsored by Amrock. Valuation Modernization was the panel where technology leaders discussed things appraisers should be doing to increase efficiency. Jeff Bradford of Bradford Technologies, Gareth Borcherds of Jaro, Eric Tsai of Asteroom and Nathan Brannen of Restb.ai all talked about technology and processes that are making appraisals faster and better. Freddie Mac sponsored lunch for us all and afterward we had the final putt off for the ValExpo open and distributed the prizes and trophies to the winners.
We also had the Appraisal Bee Prize Drawings after lunch. Below were some of the lucky winners and amazing prizes, with the top prize being $1,000 from ServiceLink!
$1,000 gift card provided by ServiceLink – won by Kimberly Evans
Vivid 300 Projector provided by Wells Fargo – won by Felix Kubosh
Charger plus $100 cash provided by Value Link – won by Michelle Ruhl
Apple Watch provided by ValueScape – won by Paul Angrisano
Ring Doorbell provided by Valuation Connect – won by Dennis Paylor
Fliple Bluetooth Sound Box provided by SFREP – won by Hugo Zambrano
$100 gift card – ProxyPix – won by Shay Brown
$150 AirBNB gift card – Crexi – won by Donna Chabot
TV – iVueit – won by Lynn Speckert
Free CE Membership – McKissock – won by Wes McDaniel
Free CE Membership – McKissock – won by Adam Hahm
Yeti plus a $100 Amazon gift card – NAA – won by Julie Munoz
$200 Amazon gift card – NAN – won by LeRay Willis
$100 gift card – Intercorp – won by Nita Sloan
Apple Airpods – Opteon – won by Chris Kajawa
$75 gift card – PCV Murcor – won by Cathy Putegnat
Samsung Tablet – OREP – won by Daisy Singh
Valuing Fractional Interest book – Primus PVX – won by Rose Henigman
Valuing Fractional Interest book – Primus PVX – won by Jordan Peri
iPad Pro – Corelogic – won by Zach Shelton
Apple Airpods – Class Valuation – won by Robert Givan
Vegas Experience (helicopter over Vegas) – Bradford Technologies – won by Angela Davied
14 hours of CE – Appraiser eLearning – won by Robert Miller
$100 Amazon gift card – Appraisal Institute – won by Yu Jin Choi
50” HD TV – Appraisal Buzz – won by Jim Pedigo
Free Quarterly Subscription – AcreValue – won by Eddie Valencia
TV Monitor 324 provided by ACI – won by Gina Kite
$150 gift card provided by LIA Administrators and Insurance Company – won by Shayne Green
Apple Airpods provided by DataMaster – won by Linda Nelson
We finished off the day with our Market Conditions session. This session had a little bit of everything for appraisers. John Dingeman of Class Valuation discussed Short Term Rentals and how appraisers should handle them. Stacy Caprioli of NAN discussed mitigating variances and supporting your data. Kevin Hecht of McKissock talked about current economic conditions and Hem Merriman of Wells Fargo finished off the show talking about bringing new people into the industry and what it means to increase the diversity in the appraisal population.
We had a great show this year and we really appreciate all the support from our sponsors and the attendees who joined us and made it such fun. We can’t wait to see you next year back at The Mirage on Aug 5th-7th, 2024.
If you missed out on all the fun of Vegas and want to network with your peers, you can join us next month for the Appraisal Summit on Sept 16th-19th at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. https://www.appraisalsummit.net/
