I would like to thank everyone who attended our first meeting of the year at Flounders on Pensacola Beach. It was a great turn-out and I have heard from some of those in attendance who stated they enjoyed the meeting format and following cocktail party. The associates meeting was also well attended and I hope you all learned something useful from it. The folks at Flounders were also kind enough to provide the food for free so thank them by patronizing them when you get a change.

I know everyone is working hard to make a living and it seems that every assignment presents new challenges that are difficult to overcome. Due to the challenges presented by a declining market, it seems that appraisal assignments are taking longer to complete. One way to fight this dilemma is through education. For the residential and commercial appraisers our chapter is offering several seminars April 29^th through May 1^st  at the Emerald Grande in Destin. The Declining Markets seminar should help with the challenges we all face in the current market. If you are interested in expanding your business base we are also offering the FHA Appraising seminar for residential appraisers.

The first of a three part education series “Condemnation Appraising” is also being offered for the commercial appraisers or anyone looking to expand their horizons. Once all three courses in this series are completed, successful attendees will be given an “expert witness” designation and marketed through the appraisal institutes website as an expert witness. If you are interested in creating new opportunities to make money, make your plans to attend any of these offerings. You can find the offerings on the Appraisal Institutes Web Site or Gail Carlton can provide you with a direct link.

In association with the seminars being offered, we will also be having another general meeting on Thursday night April 30^th at the Emerald Grand in Destin. You do not have to be a seminar attendee to come to the general meeting so I encourage everyone to come and invite an appraiser friend who is not a member. Again I would like to start out with an associates’ meeting that will last about a half hour. The topic of discussion will be extracting effective ages from the market. The associates meeting will be followed by a general membership meeting and cocktail party. The Emerald Grande is found at the foot of the Destin Pass Bridge and there are numerous restaurants, bars and shops surrounding it making this a very festive atmosphere that will be very enjoyable.

I hope to see everyone at the April 30^th Meeting.

Tom Fruitticher, MAI, Chapter President