By Kate Merrihew, Director of Education and Marketing
Surely you have heard by now that we, at DS Murphy, are the people-driven, relationship-based appraisers. That we are striving to be the appraisers that want to make connections and build on those to further the industry. If there were ever an employee that embodies this mentality – from every step he’s taken in life – it’s James Hyde.
Hailing from Cumming Georgia, James has always appreciated his heritage and found ways to celebrate it. He was raised mainly by his grandparents and, though a self-proclaimed “nerd,” was popular throughout his school days because he always honored friendship and connection. He went to Forsyth Central HS where he was interested in science and math. James mentioned that he has “always had the same friends.” His best friend goes all the way back to middle school and they were college roommates at UGA.
For 5 years at UGA, he studied Physics and Math and was very interested in Astronomy and specifically Cosmology. The curvature of the universe and trying to determine the Einstein Constant were at the top of his to-do list. He was always intrigued by philosophy when it came to “light reading.” “To Kill A Mockingbird” is his favorite book. James matriculated with 2 degrees – a B.S. in Physics and Astronomy and a B.A. in Mathematics.
After his first tour of (college) duty, he took a position with Forsyth County parks and rec at the Sawnee Mtn Preserve. Admittedly, this job was just a placeholder but he made a lot of great relationships and learned more about government operations. Perhaps driven by his childhood love for the book “The Little Engine That Could,” James went back to college and received his 3rd degree in Business Administration and Finance from Georgia Tech. He remarks that GT was extremely career and business-oriented and he was looking for more direction rather than furthering his studies.
James worked for Century 21 as a real estate agent after graduating and happened upon a Field Trip class that looked intriguing. At that particular class he met Scott and Steve and joined the team shortly thereafter. When first asked what attracted him to DSMurphy, he said that he appreciated Scott and Steve’s optimism about the industry and he hadn’t seen that in other appraisal firms with whom he had interacted.
Today, James is a partner with DS Murphy Commercial and runs that side of the business. He is a Certified General Appraiser and is always looking to share his love for research and the commercial side with anyone interested in connection and thinking outside the box. Of these 2 things, he is king.
I asked James Hyde the following questions…
Q: What made you want to be an appraiser?
A: My family’s history in real estate and my interest in finance. My family at the time had holdings in multiple counties and my first memories as a child was going to the Jackson County courthouse. I remember someone there teaching me how to search for deeds – Grantor/Grantee Index. How to physically search for deeds. My grandfather was worried about some easements and someone improperly recording against our property. I liked the research aspect. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do commercial as opposed to residential.
Q: What would you like to do when you are no longer appraising?
A: Sleep. Then I guess I can see myself now in the Swiss Alps. I want to travel the world.
Q: What the weirdest thing you have come across when inspecting/appraising?
A: I have seen some things… I appraised a house that was built into a cave as a bunker. I’ve appraised a monolithic and geodesic dome. I’ve seen some weird stuff but I don’t know how appropriate it is to talk about. Here’s the craziest of the crazies – I appraised a berm house that had a completely submerged basement with a secret exit tunnel – owned by a psychiatrist. When you’re in the main house you’re already 25 feet down and then you go to the “basement” you’re basically below the basement already.
Q: Something no one knows about you?
A: I’m a pretty open person so that’s gonna be difficult. Not completely fluent but conversational in Russian. I collect antiques – pottery from the 1800’s (E.L. Stork), porcelain signs – stuff that’s local to Atlanta or the surrounding areas. Antiques that I can trace to the geographical area that I’m in.
Q: What words of wisdom can you share with the team?
A: The one thing I always got from Ed was the importance of “Emotional Intelligence” – always be aware of your emotions and how to control them in each situation. For myself I cherish Newton’s quote – “if I have seen further it’s because of standing the shoulders of giants” – he was always humble. I hold that he was saying – I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the people that helped me along the way. I feel that way about Scott and Ed.