The Appraisal Buzz is a newsletter designed to keep the real estate appraisal professional and lending community plugged into what's happening in the world of appraising.

Mel Black is the Director of Appraisal Innovation at McKissock Learning. Mel was first licensed as an appraiser in 1991 and as a real estate broker in 1988. He is an AQB-Certified USPAP Instructor and had earned two graduate degrees in the field of education. He was named the “Educator of the Year” by North Carolina Real Estate Educators Association and was the first recipient of the prestigious “Larry Outlaw Excellence in Education Award” established by the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. In addition to his work with McKissock Learning, Mel is an attorney in private practice with a focus on representing real estate appraisers and other professionals before their licensing boards.

Prior to working with McKissock, Mel owned and operated an appraisal and real estate school where he developed and delivered appraisal and real estate continuing education courses. Mel got his start working in his family’s appraisal and real estate office and then went on to be the Executive Director of the North Carolina Appraisal Board and serve as the Education and Examination Officer for the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. Mel has served as an appraisal subject matter expert in multiple roles to include: reviewing and revising appraisal examination questions for a national provider and contributing to “APB Valuation Advisory #6: Valuation of Green and High Performance Property: Background and Competency” by the Appraisal Foundation.

Mel has co-authored a book on teaching real estate topics and was acknowledged as a contributor to the Real Estate Commission's "North Carolina Real Estate Manual 2011-2012 Edition" for revising the chapter on Real Estate Valuation

Mel has been elected or appointed to serve in a variety of state and national positions to include: President of the Association of Appraisal Regulatory Officials (AARO;) Board Member of the Council for Licensure Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR;) Member of The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (TAFAC;) and others. Currently, he serves as the Vice Chair of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission. For his service to and representation of North Carolina nationally, Mel was honored in 2002 with membership into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest award presented by the Office of the Governor.

Danny Wiley, SRA, is the senior director of property valuation for Freddie Mac’s Single-Family Risk Management division. He is responsible for Freddie Mac’s collateral risk management and its valuation team. He is also responsible for innovation in collateral risk analysis.
Mr. Wiley has held appraisal-related positions since 1982, including over 25 years as an independent fee appraiser and eight years as an AMC chief appraiser. He is also a past chair of the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation and a past member of the Standards Board of the International Valuation Standards Committee.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics, with related work in physics, from Vanderbilt University.

Freddie Mac provides liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today, Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. For more information, please visit www.FreddieMac.com and follow us on Twitter @FreddieMac.

John Dingeman is a Certified Residential Appraiser in 11 states, a Registered Property Tax Agent in Arizona, and a Qualifying and Continuing Education Instructor for multiple course providers. Dingeman is the Past President of the National Association of Appraisers and the Coalition of Arizona Appraisers. He has also served on several boards, including the Arizona Board of Manufactured Housing, Phoenix Village Planning Committee, Homeowners Association and a charitable organization supporting foster children in Arizona called Arizona Helping Hands.