After more than two months into the COVID-19 Pandemic, Appraisal Buzz brought together a diverse group of market participants to share with our webinar attendees, how appraiser regulators / business enterprises and boots-on-the-ground appraisers have been impacted, how they modified their business practices/operations in response to stay-at-home /stay-in-place mandates by governmental agencies across the country. This webinar will provide a broader knowledge of how the industry has been impacted from actual market participants you can use in your daily practices.

Metro-West Appraisal and Appraisal Buzz invite you to join in on a Town Hall discussion about safety, industry guidelines, and provide clarity amid the rapidly changing situation with the pandemic. Attendees are encouraged to submit questions during the webinar, which will highlight how real estate closings are still occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic and insight into the potential long-term impact on the industry
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    Appraisal Buzz
    The Appraisal Buzz is a newsletter designed to keep the real estate appraisal professional and lending community plugged into what's happening in the world of appraising.
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    Greg Stephens
    Chief Appraiser, SVP Compliance
    Greg Stephens is a recognized subject matter expert in appraisal regulations and standards, whose 35 plus year career in the industry includes owning and managing a five office regional appraisal firm in Northern California for twenty-four years prior to spending ten years in financial institution valuation QC and governance managing pre and post-closing review teams, monitoring state and federal appraisal-related legislation and USPAP subject matter expert.

    Mr. Stephens professional credentials include Certified General Appraiser, SRA Designation from the Appraisal Institute, AQB Certified USPAP Instructor through The Appraisal Foundation, CDEI certified distance education instructor through the International Distance Education Certification Center.

    For over twenty years he has been providing qualifying and continuing education seminars around the country through his seminar company, Appraisal Seminars, the Appraisal Institute and several colleges.

    For over thirty years, Mr. Stephens has also been involved in national appraisal organization leadership, most recently as the 2013 President of the North Texas Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and prior board and officer positions with the Society of Real Estate Appraisers, the American Society of Appraisers. He is a frequent speaker at national conferences for professional organizations around the country and voted the Collateral Risk Network 2013 Valuation Visionary for life-long contributions to the industry.

    In September 2011 Mr. Stephens joined Metro-West Appraisal Co. LLC as Senior Vice President, Appraisal Operations and Compliance and in December 2013 was promoted to Chief Appraiser, SVP Compliance.
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    Adam Johnston, PMP, SRA, AI-RRS
    Director of Operations, Chief Appraiser
    Adam Johnston is Director of Operations & Chief Appraiser for Genworth Financial’s U.S. mortgage insurance business. In this role, he manages a team of licensed appraisers who provide support and subject matter expertise to all U.S. mortgage insurance functions. As a Director of Operations at Genworth, Mr. Johnston has also led fraud investigation teams, process improvement teams, and business project management. In addition to his 25 years of appraisal experience, Mr. Johnston is a former police officer and served in the United States Marine Corps.

    A Certified Residential Appraiser in several states, Mr. Johnston is a designated member of the Appraisal Institute, with the SRA and AI-RRS designations. Beyond his professional appraisal experience, he holds the PMP designation from the Project Management Institute, the CSM and CSPO designations from Scrum Alliance, and obtained a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt designation in process improvement.

    Mr. Johnston served eight years on the Board of Trustees of The Appraisal Foundation and was the 2018 Chair. The Appraisal Foundation is a not-for-profit organization authorized by Congress as the Source of Appraisal Standards and Appraisal Qualifications. He is currently a member of the Collateral Risk Network and a representative to the Industry Advisory Council of The Appraisal Foundation.
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    Leilani Fagel
    Staff Appraiser
    Leilani Fagel currently resides and works in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has been appraising for almost 18 years. She is currently a staff appraiser for MetroWest appraisal and has been working with them for 6 years. Honesty, integrity and customer service has been the basis of her business. She has been married to her husband and best friend Harry for 22 years and has two amazing sons, Sam (22) and Jacob (17).
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    Michael Shores
    Staff Appraiser
    Michael is a staff appraiser in the Phoenix, Arizona market. Michael has 16 years of appraisal experience. Michael has executive management experience in 35 states. He's a proud business owner and self proclaimed world traveler.
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    Sara Oates
    President of Total Appraisal Management & Review
    Sara Oates was appointed by Governor Abbott in September 2019 to chair the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board. Ms. Oates, of Austin, is president of Total Appraisal Management & Review, and is a second generation real estate appraiser. She is a member of the Foundation Appraisers Coalition of Texas and a former gubernatorial appointee to the Appraisal Management Companies Advisory Committee. Additionally, she is a volunteer with CASA of Travis County. Oates received a Bachelor of Arts in government from The University of Texas at Austin.
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    Richard King
    Appraiser
    Rick is a certified residential Appraiser for over 22 years. Rick lives in Fallbrook, CA which is the northeastern section of San Diego County and known as the avocado capital of the world. Prior to 2002, Rick appraised in the central mountains of Colorado, Park County, Summit County, Vail, and Steamboat Springs to be exact. Rick has been an employee of Metro-West Appraisal since 2009 and also does limited independent work. Rick has been married since 1985 and has two children.
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    Brian Sexton
    Appraiser
    Brian has been with Metro-West Appraisal since August 1997 when he started as a trainee. Brian currently resides in Michigan and has been a licensed appraiser since December 1998. He then became a Certified Residential Appraiser in November 2007 and he is also on the FHA/HUD approved appraiser panel. Brian has been a top performing appraiser with Metro-West for over 21 years.
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    John Holbrook, Collateral Analytics
    Business Strategy, EVP
    John is a 23 year veteran in the appraisal and valuations space. As VP of Business Strategy at Black Knight, John is responsible for identifying business and consumer insights and transforming them into actionable products and strategies, with special emphasis on improving appraisal processes.

    Prior to working for Black Knight, John spent several years at Fannie Mae where he served as Director of Collateral Technology and Strategy managing a team responsible for appraisal innovation and risk analytics. Prior to Fannie Mae, John was VP Valuation Strategy for a division of Lender Processing Services. John is passionate about building innovative valuation tools and improving processes, leaning heavily on many years of "boots on the ground" experience as a certified real estate appraiser and certified USPAP instructor. John is a proud veteran of the United States Air Force.