About as boring as it gets...

Dear Family and Friends,
I'm glad its time to go to bed. I don't have to have concern and stress while I'm asleep. Its that kind of life right now, high stakes and a lot of unknown. Of course then there is the known that is also challenging. How different today was without Keanna to ignite joy and laughter. She went to her cheer leading workshop tonight and I've not yet heard how it went, I'm sure she enjoyed it!
I rolled out after a rather cool night. Just when I adjust the covers for warmer weather we get this blustery patch of weather which dispatches a chill into the night air. No matter how hard Starr tried she could not keep me warm. I finally put the bed warmer on the low setting to get through the night. This morning I rolled out and came directly to work with only a yogurt for breakfast. I had things to get done and yes I've got them done which gives mind satisfaction. I've also collected a few checks today and even some green stuff, last time I was able to save it for weeks without spending it until the bank account was in dire straits so I went and plopped it into the account to save overdraft fees.
This afternoon I drove over to Stockton to see a very nice duplex which the owners are trying to save from foreclosure. The lender has taken so long that the appraisal expired, they needed it updated. The comparables have gotten even worse than last time. It is so discouraging to work day after day with situations where the values have dropped so much that the people have no choice but to just give it back to the bank.
This morning I was sailing along writing when a call brought me up short. Turns out what you see on the screen does not always stay the same when you do the pdf lockup. This new form that is causing so much trouble for appraisers, 1004MC has some lines that are darkened meaning we no longer have to fill them out since the data was not available from any source. On the screen and when I print out the page the offending spaces are darkened out but after locking the page up with the pdf writer the darkened space disappears. So an underwriter was on the phone wanting the spaces filled out, I knew I had filled them out as instructed. After an hour with the writer of my software I got a meek, whoops, we have a glitch in our software. That means for everyone using this software to write appraisals in the whole US they are creating forms that underwriters will not like, sounds like a huge problem and of course I had to be the one to discover it and now they know. Great, one hour out of a very busy morning wasted!
While I was on my way to the duplex in Stockton I got a panic call from a client to say that a lender had put a file on suspense because they did not like the comps I used in Oakland for a duplex. Well good luck finding any others, its just not a great time to be doing income property appraisals right now, very few comps and they are terrible when you do find them. And of course hanging over my head is the BIG change in the way appraisal work is to be ordered after the first of May. There is huge confusion about who will be ordering appraisals and of course I wonder if I'll still get any work. Have you faced something where you keep placing it in God's hands and then a few minute later you discover you've got it in your hands again. That is my situation with this huge possible life changing ordering quandary. No one knows what will happen.
Oh by the way I did get a check in the mail today! So the check filter I was concerned about must have broken and let one slip through. It felt good to open a letter and there was a check and it was for a property I'm seeing tomorrow, great news! Even nicer it is right here in Discovery Bay. But first I'm off to Pittsburg to see a place that two years ago was over $400K and it just sold for, are you ready................. $90,000. Soon you will have a choice, do I buy groceries this week or shall I go buy a house!

Tonight I would like to ask for your prayers for a friend of mine. Her name is Suzie and she is Donna's daughter, Donna is my brothers wife. Suzie lives in Concord and is facing very serious health issues and could really be lifted by your prayers. Thanks for remembering her.

So I bid you each goodnight, I miss people, I'm not really loving this being alone all the time and yet I don't have a minute to do anything about it.

Sending love to all,

Tim