Hilco Appraisal

[CBBoston]

I know Hilco does all sorts of non-real estate work and have recently started to using in-house real estate appprasers rather than just using outside appraisers. They have been recruiting appraisers to join the appraisal division. I've seen a couple of their reports on larger industrial buildings. I was taken aback by the ommission of the income approach. These are properties that often sell a net investments. What do you guys know about their re appraisal group?

 

[PL1957]

I think that they perceive that they will be able to get significant synergies from pairing real estate valuation with their other lines of business. They've had a limited number of in house real estate appraisers from the beginning. The appraisals that I've seen from Hilco have been typical of firms that service non-lending clients - very little fluff, very little support for the conclusions. I'm glad they're taking RE valuation in house - it should result in a better product and that's good for the industry as a whole.

 

[CBBoston]

PL1957 thanks for your input.