Thomas began his real estate appraisal career in NY in 1986 and relocated to Sarasota, FL in 1995. He presently holds a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser Certification in Florida and was formerly certified in 32 other states. His extensive experience includes positions as Chief Appraiser and Senior Review Appraiser with two major NY banks where he co-authored the appraisal guidelines; Senior Appraiser at a national appraisal firm specializing in HUD and affordable housing completing appraisals throughout the US and Puerto Rico; Managing Director of Valuations at a national CRE firm completing evaluations and restricted appraisal reports on commercial and industrial properties nationwide; and former president/owner of one of Florida's leading appraisal firms with 27 appraisers that produced in excess of 8,000 appraisals in 2006, the peak of the real estate boom.Additionally, Thomas has been qualified as an expert witness and testified as such in NY State Supreme Court, Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, United States District Court Middle District Florida (Grand Jury), and United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District Florida.Throughout his over three decade career, Thomas has completed appraisal assignments for commercial, industrial and residential properties including, retail stores, apartment buildings, shopping centers, office buildings, assisted living facilities, health care facilities, manufacturing plants, restaurants, hotels/motels, service stations, automobile dealerships, banks, daycare centers, self-storage facilities, subdivisions, single-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings, cooperative apartment buildings, condominium projects, and vacant land. Specialty property appraisals completed include theaters, houses of worship, dog kennels, power line corridors, asphalt plants, tennis and fitness clubs, firehouses, watershed and reservoir lands, funeral homes, schools, bowling alleys, horse farms, beach clubs, and marinas.Thomas is an avid SCUBA diver and became a NAUI SCUBA Instructor in 2001 and still enjoys teaching today. In 2019, he became a Diveheart Adaptive SCUBA Instructor which enables him to teach SCUBA to individuals with a variety of disabilities, including physical and developmental disabilities, vision and hearing impairments, amputations, traumatic brain injuries, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.Favorite quote - “Trust is like the air we breathe, when it’s present nobody really notices, but when it’s absent everybody notices.” Warren Buffett