Season's Greetings

Appraiser Active to you

...and one more thing

Wishing you all the best in the New Year.

Donald K. Gregoire, IFA - January 14, 1930 - November 12, 2016

The name of the company is Gregoire & Gregoire, Inc. The first “Gregoire” in the company is my father, Donald K. Gregoire, IFA. Although retired from active appraisal work since 1995, he continued to offer business advice, counsel, mentoring, and fatherly advice. Donald K. Gregoire, also known as Big Daddy, BD, and Kem, passed from this life to the next on Saturday, November 12, 2016. His love and wisdom will be sorely missed. His dogged persistence, enthusiasm for life, and commitment to doing the right thing will continue serve as an example for all fortunate to have met and worked with him.

After his retirement from active appraisal work, his condominium association published a profile with a brief history of his life. Please take a look.

Don achieved, continuously during his time on earth. Among his earliest:

Rest in peace, Big Daddy.

Tips in the Mailbox

Over the weekend, along with a stack of the regular mix of bills, political advertisements, and solicitations for contributions, I found the Second Edition, Spring, 2016, APPRAISALBUZZ Magazine.

Quite a mix of articles, some written by folks I've met and know, as several by folks I know from other forums and events. It's different, and worth a read.

The purpose of this post is  to add one additional suggestion to the article authored by yours truly "Litigate This, Five Things to Think About Before Taking the Plunge". As noted in the piece, the list is not exhaustive, and many more points could be added, but I was on a work count limit.

Here's the addition. When working on the terms of your engagement, make sure to negotiate a records retention agreement. The closing orders for some cases require all parties to return or destroy their records related to the case. Of course, this will cause an appraiser trouble with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and in some instances, their state law. Make sure the terms of your engagement allow retention of records in such as way to permit you to comply with the Record Keeping Rule, and your state law.

Remembering Jon, Six Years Later

Note: In honor of my nephew, Jon, this a repeat of a post from March 15, 2010. We think of you every day.

It's a sad day in the Appraiser Active family. My nephew, Jonathan Porto, a Marine, was killed yesterday in a non-combat accident in Afghanistan, near Marjah. My sister, Rachel, his mother, Jon's wife, Rachel Jewell Porto, and their two month old daughter, Ariana, could use your prayers. Jon was 26.




The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office provided an escort for the motorcade from MacDill Air Force Base to St. Petersburg. The Tampa Bay Community showed their respect for Cpl Jonathan Porto.