By Kate Merrihew – Director of Marketing and Education
A surf-ski is a skinny, angular, dare I say fun-sized version of a typical kayak (see below for picture). Only a thrill-seeking, crazy person would put their body in one of these and barrel down the rivers of North Carolina. Well, that person is Karen Drury, and she is a Certified Appraiser with D.S. Murphy (who said appraisers were stuffy?). Crediting her husband with much of her passion for picking up new outdoor hobbies and river-wandering, Karen expressed a love for the mountains and enjoying the beauty of life.
She was born in Jacksonvile, Florida, both parents were real estate brokers and she was instilled with a love of the industry. While living in Florida, Karen enjoyed the beaches and played tennis through high school. She attended Furman University in Greenville, SC to be a geologist until the chemistry aspect came into play. She was destined for the real estate industry and after receiving her Masters at Jacksonville, she took a job with State Farm. Karen spent 13 years at State Farm as a personal lines underwriter, then was an in-house consultant where she trained agents and staff in Metro Atlanta. During that time she stayed busy with 2 kids. They are now 26 and 21. Her daughter is a Marine Corps JAG officer and her son is just finishing college.
Karen recalled that she always wanted to be an appraiser. She had wondered, “what can I do in any state?” She was working as an agent at Century 21 and decided to call Scott Murphy. She had known of D.S. Murphy and apparently already had an affinity for the company. That was 2 ½ years ago and she’s still going strong. Currently, Karen is living with her husband and building a home in the mountains of NC. She spends her time studying, doing hot yoga, reading Ken Follett and learning about new, insane river crafts. Her husband got her into the kayaking world. She mentioned, “I thought I knew how to kayak and then he’s doing 20-ft waterfalls. We are also building a spot in our new place for his 30+ kayaks.” They frequently take long walks and genuinely love being outdoors. Her 4-year-old Australian Shepherd appreciates her affinity for hiking and is thoroughly excited for their new mountain digs.
I asked Karen the following questions…
Q: What made you want to be an appraiser?
A: I love real estate and was a Realtor for years with a team at Century 21. I knew I was going to be leaving all my friends and client base in Georgia and moving. I love numbers and spreadsheets (yes, I made a spreadsheet of 100 houses years ago just to make an offer!) and I always thought the world of Scott and DS Murphy. Scott encouraged me to start taking the classes. I also went to every field trip class I could! When I was on my last appraiser class I called Scott and got hired at DSM. I started training with Scott and Grant then went to work on Hudson’s team. I sat for the exams as quickly as I could take the tests, got my licenses, and started working in NE GA, Western SC, and Western NC. Now I’m mostly working in Western North Carolina.
Q: What would you like to do when you are no longer appraising?
A: Hmmm. I will always be looking at houses and hope to keep appraising as long as I can hike around these mountain houses! I also have a dream of developing this old (1939) family brick school building here into some sort of cool housing.
Q: What the weirdest thing you have come across when inspecting/appraising?
A: I run into weird things all the time up here in the mountains! The worst was getting in what seemed like a massive 4WD truck with an agent’s husband (think big guy, long hair, cowboy hat!) to go the last 9 miles to the subject/prepper house on the worst roads I have ever experienced. When I asked him what he did when he wasn’t driving appraisers to remote locations, he said that he was a horror writer and handed me a flyer from his newest book called The Feral Children (also Zombie Road)!
Q: Something no one knows about you?
A: I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where my parents were both real estate brokers who also had a property management business. I always loved looking at houses! And, I LOVE hot yoga and go a lot up here!
Q: What words of wisdom can you share with the team?
A: Ask a lot of questions, take a lot of notes, and make great templates! I also wish I had made my “cheat sheet” of comments earlier. I’m also glad I took the classes before coming on to train. Our company is the best at answering questions and helping each other. It is a great place to learn and to become better appraisers. We have so many resources at DSM! I just love it!