Linda Sepso started her career as an appraiser in 1986 at Bowley Appraisal Co. in Bridgeport.
She has been in the field for 25 years since, and is now president of Sepso Appraisal Assoc. in Stratford.
Sepso’s friend, Judy Resnick, had suggested she meet with her boss at Bowley. The job was just what Sepso needed. With her two children, Michael, now 39, and Alycia, 36, in school, and her husband, Roger, traveling extensively for work, Sepso wanted a job that gave her more control of her time.
At the time, appraisal was “very much an old boys’ network,” Sepso said. Realtors and appraisers played golf together.
“I found it difficult to break into that,” explained Sepso, adding, “but Judy and I made a point of showing up at everything.”
Sepso joined the Appraisal Institute’s Connecticut chapter, and started volunteering to run some of its education activities. Her active role in the chapter helped her get elected to the institute’s board – the only female at the time.
Five years later, Sepso’s husband saw an advertisement for appraisers at People’s Bank in Bridgeport. He sent in Sepso’s resume without her knowledge, and she was hired as a field appraiser in 1991. Within the year, she was promoted to department head, and in 1993 became chief appraiser.
After taking some time off to discover what she wanted to do, Sepso founded her own company, L.M. Sepso Appraisal Assoc., which will be 12 years old this December. The Stratford-based company is a full-service residential appraisal firm, and has recently added a small commercial department run by Frank O’Neill.
Sepso’s other responsibilities include being a managing partner in ValueSearch LLC, a Stratford-based, appraisal management company. Its subsidiary, Value Search Educators, provides appraisal and real estate continuing education courses.
Educating Appraisers
“Since my degree is in education, the school, under the name of ValueSearch Educators, allows me to use both teaching and appraisal skills,” explained Sepso. Her goal is to “grow the school more” and bring “quality education at reasonable prices to appraisers,” she said.
Sepso is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.
