comparables

[nunnda]

Wayne. I'm going to try this out because I can see some value in a section for commercial appraisers. I don't understand what the funny faces are for though. And I'm not quite sure I understand the uses of the rectangle boxes shown above the message creating box. But I guess we'll all learn or else go watch TV.

I have just finished a new proposed 33,700 sf judicial complex in a very rural area, from plans and specs and of course the architects have had to revise the building already. At some point in the future, I will have this information available that I would be willing to share with other commercial appraisers who are willing to share their information.

David Nunn, Indiana

 

[Head Surfer]

Wayne. I'm going to try this out because I can see some value in a section for commercial appraisers. I don't understand what the funny faces are for though. And I'm not quite sure I understand the uses of the rectangle boxes shown above the message creating box. But I guess we'll all learn or else go watch TV.

I have just finished a new proposed 33,700 sf judicial complex in a very rural area, from plans and specs and of course the architects have had to revise the building already. At some point in the future, I will have this information available that I would be willing to share with other commercial appraisers who are willing to share their information.

David Nunn, Indiana

You did just fine. You don't have to use the "funny faces" unless you want too! They are just there to lend expressions of emotion that you can see in someone's face if you are face to face with them, but can't see online! Just put your curser where you want one in your text then click on one of them and the code will be inserted into your post that will make the "emoticon" appear in your text when the message is posted!

Completely optional however! The boxes above the posting spot are for formating text. To make it bold, big, little, different colors, etc. Again, completely optional!

I want commercial appraisers to know that they are welcome (they always were) but we didn't have a separate forum for them. Now we do! So we will see how it goes!

 

[Austin]

David: I took the AI course cap theory A & B, and I believe it was cap theory B, in which one of our instructors was the retired chief appraiser for the US Government who went around appraising government post offices and other government buildings. I was in the local tax assessor's office the other week and an appraiser was in there getting information to appraise our new regional post office building.
My question is if these properties are never sold and the government owns them, what exactly is the point of appraising them. If they were owned by a private company and leased to the government I could understand it, but other than verifying the cost or discounting the lease interest, what else will you do? When you finish, what purpose will the appraisal serve? If you did find comparable sales it seems that they would be surplus property sales and of no use. These buildings are so specialized that it seems to me that it would be impossible to estimate a supportable rental rate due to massive forms of functional obsolescences with no data with which to measure it. Is appraising state owned property with no link to the private sector even relevant is the bottom line?

 

[Steve Owen]

It seems to me that you should be careful in assigning such functional obsolescence. One of our post offices is in an old grocery store. It doesn't take too much imagination to see it being a grocery store again. Essentially, they are just large distribution warehouses; except for the walk-in part in the front, which could be easily converted to office space, and the post office boxes, it doesn't seem to me like they are all that different from any other warehouse.

As to the issue of why, I really don't know. I can think of several reasons a government entity or similar organization might want to know the value of its buildings. For inventory purposes-- just knowing how much you have. Also, it might be useful in terms of knowing whether it would be useful to replace the building. Not really sure if there are other reasons to appraise them, but one obvious reason would be if you were getting ready to sell it (that has happened to one post office in my town).

 

[Dan Leggett]

My question is if these properties are never sold and the government owns them, what exactly is the point of appraising them. If they were owned by a private company and leased to the government I could understand it....

In my neck of the woods they are owned by private entities enjoying very lucrative long term leases with the USPO. If you can position yourself with the proper 'click' you can fund your retirement with just one property.

 

[xmrdfghap]

I was in the local tax assessor's office the other week and an appraiser was in there getting information to appraise our new regional post office building.

<span style='color:brown'>Austin, most branch postoffice buildings are privately owned. If you happen to stop into a main postoffice you will often find a "request for bids" notice requesting quotes for a new branch office somewhere in the community. These are long term leases for which competition is very keen.</span>

Is appraising state owned property with no link to the private sector even relevant is the bottom line?

One of the few ways we have to check government expenditure is to verify that what we bought is what we got. Absent a good appraisal, an audit is almost useless. Unless you know the value of capital assets how can you prepare a balance sheet? And an appraisal is probably the best way to identify that $2,000,000 state office that they spent $6,000,000 to build.

 

[Austin]

Greg: It is the same here on small rural post offices. They are leased, which is an easy appraisal assignment. The post office I am talking about is the new regional postal center. It is a highly specialized building in the center of the most highly developed and emerging commercial district in the region. Meaning no local or regional comparable sales. I can understand doing the cost approach, doing the land valuation, and using a cost manual or local cost to verify that the cost are within a reasonable range, but beyond that I don't see the point of faking the sales comparison and income approaches given the specialized nature of the improvements and depth of the local market. We are talking huge functional obsolescence with no data with which to measure. The question becomes, as my question above implies, is this really an appraisal because no market exist. Why not call it what it is? I don't like to get involved in trumped up assignments. I got a call recently to appraise the law office of the largest law firm in the region. The office is in a 90 year old downtown former Main Street retail store building that was remodeled into a law office. The partners own the property and lease it to the law firm. It has a 20 year lease with a well defined income stream and renewal provision. Piece of cake assignment. The bank wanted me to use all three approaches to value to do a lease fee valuation. Why? They thought it would look good to the examiners. That is what I mean by trumped up appraisal. I appraised the lease fee interest and sent it in. Never heard a word from the bank but got a letter from the law firm thinking me for my promp and professional service. I am doing a lot of work lately to fool bank examiners. (CYA appraisals I call them) Laying the ground work for the next bank-Enron crisis. It is a bi-product of the democratic system. "Don't worry about it. By the time the bottom falls out, we will have our money and be gone" is their mantra. All we need is something in the flies for the examiners saying the property actually exist and has been inspected!

 

[Anonymous]

government properties are also appraised to try and protect the taxpayer from the various scams and padding that goes along with government projects.