Restored Faith in Equipment Appraisers

Restored Faith in Equipment Appraisers...

While doing a client followup after a Machinery and Equipment Appraisal last week, the client said, "You have restored my faith in Appraisers". Now while this was good to know we have completed a Certified Machinery Appraisal that my client was happy with. There is an underlying problem here.

Many appraisers out there are flying by the seat of their pants and producing poor quality, nonstandard reports. Although there are guidelines from groups like U.S.P.A.P. many appraisers simply either don't care or don't follow those guidelines consistently. Another issue is in the report itself - You never know what you will get - Two horrible examples I have seen lately from previous appraisers included a 1-page Letter with a Number (no explanation or breakdown of the appraised items), and I also have seen a report with 2 paragraphs and an Excel file attached (and the numbers were horrible to match). GIVE ME A BREAK - you mean to tell me you get paid what a normal blue collar worker makes in a month, and you can't produce better quality than that?

We have standardized our process across all of our appraisers - And here is the process (in Condensed Form)

First and Foremost we talk to you to discover which value you need - Fair Market Value, Orderly Liquidation, Forced Liquidation, Scrap, Etc. This makes a MASSIVE impact on the end value and can definitely impact loan decisions, IRS decisions, Etc.

A summary report will have at least 2 copies and have a Leather Bound and a Soft Bound copy. You will also receive a CD with a Digital Copy of the Report (save a tree and an afternoon at the copy machine for yourself). The report will have a description and options of each item appraised, tied to its value and condition. When able, we will also include full color pictures of each item - this helps you because many times this is the only time the other party may see your Machinery.

Now for the guts:

Each Appraised item is researched in depth - we then try to get at least 5 comparable items to establish Market Value.

An industry report is included when available - this shows where the industry has been and is going.

And Finally, what to expect inside the cover:

• Summary Of Facts
• Scope of Work
• Degree To Which The Property Is Inspected Or Identified
• Extent Of Research Into The Physical Or Economic Factors That Could Affect The Property
• Extent Of Data Research
• Type And Extent Of Analysis Applied In Arriving At Opinions Or Conclusions
• Depth Of On-site Inspection
• Overall Condition Of Equipment
• Intended Use
• Economic Conditions
• Definitions Of Conditions
• Methods Of Evaluations
• Sources Contacted
• Market Conditions
• Final Value Summary And Reconciliation
• Appraiser’s Certifications And Qualifications
• Photographs