By Angela Swinson Lee
Devin Minnis was between careers when his wife, a loan officer, suggested that he may want to explore becoming a real estate appraiser. He took her advice and has been in the appraiser business for the past two years as an appraiser trainee.
Chris Jackson was flipping houses in Florida when an appraiser came in for 10 minutes and received a check for $400. The market crashed, and Jackson thought it may be time for a career pivot.
Minnis and Jackson are two Black men in an extremely white profession as licensed appraisers, where they assign a value to a property. Appraisals are used by buyers, sellers and lenders to determine the assessment of a property.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 75,000 appraisers in the United States, 97% are white and most are over 45.
As discrimination in appraisals continues to be an issue, both men agree that recruitment of Black appraisers is one way to combat the issue.