In 2018, The Appraisal Foundation published A Bridge from USPAP to IVS. Targeted primarily to appraisers already familiar with USPAP, it’s an invaluable and concise resource for producing appraisals in compliance with International Valuation Standards (IVS). The introduction reminds readers that the standards are “more similar than different:” Many differences in the standards are superficial…Read More
Valuation Terms: Clarifying Purpose and Intended Use
Ever felt confused about the appraisal / valuation terms “purpose” and the “intended use”? Join the club! The difficulty is historical. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) officially re-purposed the turn “purpose” in the 2005 edition, explaining that Edits were made throughout the document [USPAP] regarding the term purpose, due to its varied…Read More
Appraisal Review Rebuttal Report for Business Litigation: Shareholder Dispute
In business litigation, accurate machinery and equipment valuations supported by evidence and logic are crucial, particularly in cases involving complex shareholder disputes over machinery, equipment, or other business assets. Whether for partnership disputes or buyouts, equipment valuations are expected to provide information needed to determine fair financial outcomes. In many cases, however, machinery and equipment…Read More
Appraisal Review Standard of Care for Attorneys
The Association of Certified Family Law Specialists published this article in their journal’s Summer 2021 ACFLS Family Law Specialist. Appraisal review is, first and foremost, a standardized process that provides guidelines for assessing the overall quality of an appraisal relative to applicable standards, while concurrently addressing the degree to which that appraisal is credible, logical, and…Read More
Opening up Restricted Reports
This past year we did a number of Restricted appraisal reports. All of them were for business owners, of course, and mostly for buy/sell/exchange scenarios. One was a manufacturing facility to be transferred from a retiring father to his in-charge son; another was a food processing plant for the purpose of assisting with an internal…Read More
Appraisals in the Time of Pandemic
The evening of March 12, we were on a mostly empty flight back from Pittsburgh, PA where we’d spent 4 days inspecting a chain of grocery stores for a buy/sell agreement. The TP and hand sanitizer sweep began while we were there, as the Allegheny County Health Department confirmed COVID-19 cases in the area. On March 13, as you may remember, a…Read More
Busch’s Standards: Recipe for Reality, Thoughts on Chapter 1
Lawrence Busch’s Standards: Recipes for Reality covers the subject of standards in considerably more complexity than was really necessary for our purposes: developing a section on standards for appraisal review classes. As early as the introduction we found what the class needed, but by then I was already captivated by his premise that standards shape…Read More
Deconstructing Daubert on the Art of Appraisal
Appraisers frequently refer to what they do as an “art.” And in fact, the word “art” features prominently in the title of a book on appraisal review published by a major appraisal organization. But the practice of referring to appraisals and appraisal review as an “art” can be problematic, especially when we’re providing appraisals to…Read More
Gauging Competency in Appraisal Review
While gauging competency in appraisal review is similar to using a limit gauge in order to determine whether a part is within prescribed limits of tolerance, it’s not, of course, that simple. An appraiser’s competency depends on a number of factors, ranging from experience with the equipment and its market to the intended use of…Read More
Do You Need an Industry-Specific Valuation Expert?
Equipment appraisers often claim expertise in particular markets. And we do often become experts through our experience in valuing a particular industry throughout the years. In many situations, however, it’s more important to be an equipment appraisal expert than an industry expert! An expert equipment appraiser knows how to research the processes and equipment lines…Read More
USPAP 2014-15: 7 Notable Changes
Every two years, USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) gets an update. That doesn’t mean, of course, that all appraisers are learning about the updates in the same year that the new version of USPAP hits the streets. In fact many appraisers only take a USPAP class every 5 years! Or, as we discussed in…Read More
The Financial Risks of Flawed Appraisals
A previous post introduced the five qualities of a credible appraisal, and in a perfect world, the equipment appraisal report you’re basing financial decisions on would always adequately address those USPAP-specified qualities. The fact is though, that in this imperfect world many equipment appraisal reports don’t meet the basic requirements of completeness, accuracy, adequacy, relevance,…Read More