By: Kate Merrihew – Director of Education and Marketing, CRPA
Lamar George is about to celebrate his 1-year anniversary with DS Murphy and I thought, what a better way to observe this occasion than to learn more about this jack-of-all-trades. Lamar is a Georgia-native who grew up in Marietta with an older brother (6 years older). He went to Wheeler High School where he played soccer (travel soccer as well). After Wheeler, he started at Georgia Southern and moved on to Kennesaw where he studied science. He admits that science was probably a mistake and would like to go back to pursue a degree in Spanish
Lamar worked as a loan officer’s assistant (walking in his brother’s footsteps) and sought his real estate and appraisal license after leaving the bank. While he toiled away at countless hours of certification courses and agent exams, he took up a job in, you guessed it, the hospital world!
Ok, you didn’t guess it, neither did I – but Lamar is the kind of person who seeks new adventures and challenges and his resume is anything but boring. In the hospital he worked in the Emergency Room as an ER Tech. When he had been thinking about next steps at the bank, he had a conversation with a VA appraiser. This appraiser mentioned that he “turned down more business than he accepted.” Though he doesn’t remember his name, his words obviously stuck with him.
Lamar remarked that “sitting in the office for a set amount of time was stressful. I threw myself in and I probably shouldn’t have. 25-30 borrowers a month and I bit off more than I could chew.” After passing his real estate exam and becoming a registered trainee, Lamar started working for DS Murphy and Associates.
Lamar is currently a trainee under Hudson Holder but is hoping to sit for his certification exam this summer. I should also mention, he is fluent in Spanish and his favorite area restaurant is “This Is It” – “I would spend all of my money there.”
I asked Lamar the following questions…
Q: What made you want to be an appraiser?
A: I was attracted to the independence of it and be able to get out of the house and see other places. I’ve seen a bunch of GA that I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise.
Q: What would you like to do when you are no longer appraising?
A: Nurse’s assistant/Tech, but DS Murphy would have to kick me out. Later I’d like to try and spend time abroad – Mexico or Columbia. Pick up a small job somewhere and hang out, get to know the area.
Q: What the weirdest thing you have come across when inspecting/appraising?
A: I went to a fixer upper once and walking to the kitchen I fell through the floor. Half of my leg was submerged. The kitchen was in the back of the house and the flooring was worse off than the rest of the house – it slowly started to cave. Took one more picture and got out of there.
Q: Something no one knows about you?
A: I own a cleaning company – Perimeter Cleaning Solutions. Also, I spent 2 weeks in Cuba.
Q: What words of wisdom can you share with the team?
A: I try to apply the 5 Ps– Proper preparation prevents poor performance – be prepared for what’s to come.