Meeting/Event Information

Join North Texas' Premier Valuation Event of the Year!

Stay ahead of industry changes with updates on national and regional market trends, regulations, appraisal methodologies, and emerging technologies. All sessions are designed to support professional growth and are in alignment with the Appraisal Institute’s standards of excellence. 

Event Details

Date: Friday, September 18, 2026
Location: MetroTex Headquarters
1701 Kinwest Parkway, Irving, Texas

Continuing Education Credits:

8 Hours ACE credit

• Texas Approved
• Oklahoma & Arkansas - Credit Reciprocal with Texas 
• New Mexico - Pending Approval

8 Hours MCE Credit

• Texas Approved

Registration

• $300 - Members 
• $350 - Non-Members 
• $2,000 - Reserved Table for 8
  contact Lynn     
• $25 - Student Members
  contact Lynn for discount

Student Membership is FREE! Join the Appraisal Institute as a student HERE

Agenda 
7:30 am - Registration Open

8:00 am - Opening Remarks

8:30 am - Bill Kitchens & Cody Gibbs:
DFW Market Update Commercial & (new!!) Residential Trends

9:45 am - Peter Christensen, Exq., MAI, BBG
Lessons Learned from Colleagues’ Legal Misfortunes

10:45 am - Mark Fitzgerald, CFA, CAIA
National Real Estate Market Update or Multifamily & Shifts in Affordability Dynamics

11:45 am - Lunch

12:30 pm - Keynote Speaker: Russ Finney
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning for Working Professionals

1:30 pm - Lonnie Hendry
Capital Markets Trends and Impacts for Real Estate

2:45 pm - Barrett Lindburg
Real Estate Investment and Opportunity Zones 2.0

3:45 pm - Matthew Hyatt
Moderated GSE Panel or Myths, Rumors, Realities of 2026 GSE Report Requirements

5:00 pm - Closing Remarks & Adjourn

🍸After-Party Networking
Keep the conversations going after the event! Join us for After-Party Networking with a Cash Bar and connect with fellow valuation and real estate professionals.

For more information contact - Executive Director [email protected]

Thank you to our event table sponsors:

Sponsorships Available

MORNING SESSIONS

DFW 2026 Market Conditions & Forward Outlook
Shifting affordability pressures and supply dynamics across both commercial and residential markets are redefining valuation benchmarks.  Divergence across DFW submarkets, combined with shifting residential affordability dynamics, is increasing the importance of localized market analysis in valuation in the DFW region.
Key Takeaways: 

• Commercial and NEW Residential Real EstateSupply/demand trends
• Submarket divergence
• Valuation implications

About the Speakers: 
Bill Kitchens – Senior Director, CoStar Group. Leads analysis of commercial and residential trends across regional markets, with media appearances in WSJ and Dallas Morning News.
Cody Gibbs – Director of Market Analytics, CoStar / Homes.com. Leads multi-state research translating economic and property data into actionable insights.

Avoiding Legal Risk: Lessons from Litigation & Regulatory Actions

Learn from real legal cases involving appraisers—and how to avoid making the same mistakes.  This session distills real-world litigation and regulatory cases involving appraisers into practical guidance for risk reduction. Drawing from a broader body of material, the presentation has been refined from a multi-day timeline into a focused two-hour program highlighting relevant legal exposures and how to avoid them.
Key Takeaways:

• Understanding the elements of professional negligence claims and USPAP’s role in defining standard of care
• Why intended use and intended user language directly impact liability exposure
• Most common litigation triggers, including square footage errors and weak scope-of-work definition
• How to reduce exposure through engagement letters and liability limitation provisions
• Legal and regulatory risks related to:
  • Fair housing language
  • Confidentiality and data privacy (GLB + USPAP)
  • Best practices for handling Complaints, subpoenas, and E&O exposure

About the Speaker:
Peter Christensen, J.D. - General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer,  BBG Real Estate Services. Nationally recognized authority on appraisal litigation and compliance.

Multifamily Market & Home Affordability Outlook

What affordability pressures mean for multifamily values and investment decisions. Capital market conditions and affordability constraints are converging to reshape multifamily demand and valuation assumptions across U.S. housing markets.
Key Takeaways:

• Affordability and rent trends
• Interest rate impacts
• Valuation implications

About the Speaker: 
Mark Fitzgerald, CFA, CAIA – Managing Director, Affinius Capital.   Managing Director, Affinius Capital. Institutional research leader focused on housing, capital markets, and investment strategy. Leads institutional research across real estate capital markets.

LUNCH KEYNOTE

Artificial Intelligence for Executives: Practical Applications & Risk Considerations

This is not a technical talk… it’s a candid discussion about the real issues facing executive leaders today. The real challenge with AI is not the technology - it is identifying high-impact use cases while managing risk, cost, and organizational readiness.
This session provides a practical, executive-level discussion of AI and emerging technologies, including:

• AI adoption and real-world business use cases
• Cloud, ERP, and data infrastructure decisions
• Cybersecurity, governance, and organizational risk
• The pace of innovation and how firms prioritize technology investments

Key Takeaways:

• AI use cases
• Governance risk
• Operational workflow impact

About the Speaker:
Russ Finney, PhD – UT Austin. AI strategist and former CIO specializing in executive-level technology adoption.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

Commercial Market Volatility & Credit Risk Signals (Trepp Insights)

Drawing on the research and analysis featured in Trepp’s widely followed TreppWire Podcast, Lonnie Hendry provides data-driven perspectives on commercial real estate fundamentals, capital markets, lending trends, loan performance, distress, and emerging risks across property sectors. This session is a timely discussion of the market forces shaping investment, valuation, financing, and development decisions in today’s evolving real estate environment.

Key Takeaways:

• Debt market signals
• Credit performance
• Valuation pressure

About the Speaker:
Lonnie Hendry, Chief Products Officer, Trepp. Leads CRE analytics, CMBS, and credit market research.

Opportunity Zones 2.0 – Policy & Investment Implications

The next phase of Opportunity Zones will reward disciplined underwriting and operational execution—not just tax-driven capital allocation. Opportunity Zones 2.0: What's Changed?The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made Opportunity Zones a permanent part of the tax code while introducing new zone designations, stricter eligibility criteria, enhanced rural incentives, and updated reporting requirements. Learn what these changes mean for investors, developers, lenders, and communities as the next generation of Opportunity Zones takes shape.

• Policy evolution
• Investor strategy
• Execution discipline

About the Speaker:
Barrett Linburg – Co-CEO, Savoy Companies. Multifamily investment leader and participant in Opportunity Zone policy development.

GSE Panel: URAR Requirements & Impacts

Moderator: Matthew Hyatt, SRA – True Footage, Inc.

Key Takeaways:

• URAR modernization
• Compliance impacts
• Workflow changes

About the Speakers: 

Matt Hyatt, SRA leads valuation operations and GSE compliance initiatives.