So for example I think I’m going to furnish the bedrooms myself because I have a good eye for design and can get furniture for less than their markup, but I’ll pay them to equip the kitchen, because I don’t want to spend time running around buying spoons and toasters. 

In the kitchen I added items like a tea pot, serving tray, dry goods jars and wooden spoons - all picked up inexpensively at IKEA.

In all the stuff was an old tarnished silver spoon from Sweden.

I might give you some pointers on where to start, but if I have to spoon feed and hand hold you thru the entire process then what advantage are you giving me?  

Looking back I think a fair analogy is it's like digging a ditch with a spoon, lol.

That billion dollar real estate developer probally wont waste time with you and the deals he is working on are completely different.Nobody will be there to spoon feed you. 

Also I wanted to research on my own instead of getting spoon-fed.

You will at some point want to dig your eyes out with a spoon. 

I don't want to be spoon-fed advice, I want to gain the knowledge to enable informed decision-making.

A question I'd have for the thread and lurkers: Are you spoon feeding the appraiser data pertaining to closed comps that support what you think it's worth when she or he shows up?