James S. (Steve) Starett, SRA

James S. Starett, better known as Steve by friends and acquaintances is the principle of Starett & Associates, Real Estate Appraisal Services, which began operations in the Houston, TX metro area in 2003. Originally learning the appraisal business from his father-in-law, Jim D. Jones, of J. D. Property Analysts of Findlay, OH in 1994, Starett recalls, “the industry was only just discovering the digital age, and I learned the [appraisal] business the “old-fashioned way” by pulling plat maps and combing county sales at the courthouse”.   It was lessons well learned that continue to be beneficial even today in performing assignments in some of the surrounding counties.

Family has always played a key role in the development of personal and professional characteristics. The residential appraisal business came easily to Starett having grown up in family businesses of homebuilding, and retail hardware and lumber. Starett fondly remembers following his grandfather, Brooks Starett, a well-respected area general contractor onto jobsites as early as four years of age, and of playing with blueprints and an engineering scale. By age 12, he was regularly working Saturdays and after school at the “lumber yard” for his father, Jim Starett. “I not only learned about home design, construction and building materials, but I learned the value of hard work and how to interact with co-workers and customers at very young age that has helped me throughout my career”, muses Starett. Other experiences have also contributed to professional development such as high school drafting courses,  Texas Boys State, and working summers and holidays during college years in commercial electrical construction.

Starett earned a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing and Management from MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, KS in 1985, and was actively involved in all levels of student government. As student body president his senior year, coincidentally the 1984 election season, a highlight was co-sponsoring a congressional debate on campus along with the Chamber of Commerce and the Olathe Daily News. After graduation and while working full-time, Starett earned an MBA in Marketing from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO in 1993. The underlying emphasis of both these institutions on individual and corporate social responsibility fits so well with the ideal role of a real estate appraiser in the public trust particularly in light of recent events. In 2008, he earned the SRA designation from The Appraisal Institute. The designation is conferred on those members specializing in the valuation of residential properties in excess of 4,000 hours of experience, 181 hours of tested classroom instruction, and passing peer review for quality and content.

Starett has worked as a staff appraiser with Scott Stephens and Associates of Houston, TX, where he trained new hires, and at Bliss Associates of Kansas City, MO, a well-respected appraisal firm which began business in 1934. In 2005, Starett joined North American Savings Bank FSB, a regional Midwest bank, as chief appraiser. In this role, he learned the lender side of the business while managing the appraisal department. He coached staff on field procedures, data collection, and reporting; and worked to increase staffs’ state licensure and client capabilities. As chief appraiser, he played a crucial role in performing desktop and field reviews for both valuation resolution and compliance purposes. Before returning to private practice, he was able to turn the department into a profitable operation. “I am grateful to these organizations and their principles for the opportunity to be a part their team, and for what I have been able to learn from each of them”, Starett testifies.

Prior to working full-time in the appraisal industry, Starett worked 13 years in the consumer packaged goods industry in sales and marketing for some of Fortune’s Top 100 companies. For over three years, he worked as corporate liaison and project manager in new product development. Proudly, some of those products are still on the market today. In 1994, he worked part-time as an adjunct marketing professor for Findlay University, and was a guest speaker at Ohio Business Week in 1995.  Starett is or has been involved with a number of area organizations over the years including Upward Basketball and In-Door Soccer, Boys Scouts of America, a Baytown city committee, AI Houston Chapter associates’ committee, and two local chambers of commerce. Starett and his wife, Brenda, have been married over 23 years, and have two teenage children and a schnauzer.