Have you looked into obtaining an appraiser's license? Seems like there would be less leg work for a better financial return. There is a relatively short period of training, licensing and internship. After completion of their internship, appraisers in this area can command a fee of $500 to $600 for one or two days work. If you have more than one person in your organization perfoming appraisals, multiply those figures by the number of appraisers working for you.

Generally you work directly for lending institutions, home owners and law firms. Very often the appraisal is done before the lender assigns the matter to a title company, and  it thereby bypasses the VM's pressure to reduce fees experienced by the abstractors. It is not unusual for an appraiser to be paid up front by the home owner when he is hired.

If you testify as an expert witness in foreclosure cases, you can pick up additional money.