The Valbridge Women's Council (VWC) recently held its inaugural meeting. The vision of the council is to empower Valbridge professional women for advancement, growth and development in all facets of life.
The Valbridge Women's Council serves as a platform for the growth and development of Valbridge Property Advisors' professional women through mentoring and education, national recognition, networking opportunities and other resources geared toward opportunities for advancement and self-improvement. The council will hold annual events and forums for the development of its members. Valbridge believes in the importance of diversity in the work place and embraces women in leadership as a core principal. At Valbridge, various women hold executive positions within the company with decades of experience across diverse valuation categories, some holding the highest level of commercial appraisal designations in the industry. This includes the Appraisal Institute MAI designation, one of the highest levels of professional achievement in the industry. Leading up to the launch of the Valbridge Women's Council, Valbridge Property Advisors actively highlighted the women of Valbridge to bring attention to the need for more women to enter the commercial appraisal industry. Valbridge is proud to celebrate the accomplishments of female leaders in the company and encourage professional development for the women of Valbridge and beyond. The Kansas City office boasts four VWC members - congratulations to Jessica Perryman, Senior Appraiser and Joanne Montgomery, Director of Operations for becoming VWC Directors. Audrey Teixeira, Appraiser and Lindsay Wells, Researcher are also VWC members.
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Along with turning 40 this year, we've hit some pretty amazing company milestones lately! First, there’s a new generation of leadership at our office! Senior Managing Director Laird Goldsborough announced the promotion of Daniel Kann and Jason Roos to managing directors. Together, they’ll head up our Overland Park office. Daniel and Jason represent the future of our company and will continue to consult with and learn from both Laird Goldsborough and Bernie Shaner, who are still active in our Kansas City practice that serves four states: Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa.
Locally, Laird has doubled our staff and has enjoyed average double-digit growth since 2009. We now employ 17 commercial real estate appraisal professionals, including six MAIs and 11 certified general appraisers, underscoring Laird's commitment to professional development. In addition, our customer count is up more than 20% in the last five years and, most importantly, revenue per customer is up significantly as well. In addition to best practice sharing, we continue to push the boundaries of technology to ensure nationwide quality service. Datappraise, our national database for commercial real estate appraisers, is key to our success. Laird initially served as chairman of the Datappraise board. To further improve the quality and efficiency of our work, we have also developed many tools including job management systems that enable us to work on large, national portfolios of properties across multiple offices simultaneously. We appreciate our clients and friends of the firm who contribute to our success. Our sights are set on continuing to grow and mentor the next generation of appraisers! Read more about us here and here! Valbridge appraises both existing and proposed hotels throughout the region! Because we're knowledgeable on this property type, we decided to pick the brain of our own Brock Heyde, MAI about what to take into consideration when appraising in the hospitality industry! Hotels are an Operating Business: Many hotels often conduct other businesses such as restaurants/bars, banquet/meeting room rentals, and business services. Each business component requires its own income and expense analysis.
Hotels are Labor Intensive: In order to accomplish the goals of (1) executing 24-hour leases and (2) operating other related businesses, hotels are very labor intensive. Labor categories often include a general manager, front desk staff, housekeeping, maintenance, food and beverage staff, and sales and marketing staff. Depending on the size, location, and chain segment, additional labor categories can include security, human resources, accounting, and uniformed staff (bell-staff, valet, and concierge). Hotels are Capital Intensive: The excess wear and tear on hotel real estate and FF&E, due to the public nature of the facilities, requires annual expenditures for property renovation and improvements (that other real estate types do not require). There is a Formula for Measuring ADR: ADR (Average Daily Rate) is a measurement of the average rate paid for rooms sold. This is calculated by dividing the room revenue by rooms sold. Hotels are Typically "Branded" with a Chain Affiliation: In essence, the chain affiliation partially replaces the real estate broker as the leasing agent. Hotels Can Be Grouped Based on the Actual Average Room Rate: This method groups hotels in what is called "Chain Scales", with segments such as "Luxury", "Upper Upscale", "Upscale", "Upper Midscale", "Midscale", and "Economy". Independent hotels, regardless of their average room rates, are included as a separate chain-scale category called "Independent". We hope this has been helpful! Click here to contact our expert and contributor Brock Heyde, MAI! One of the primary pillars of all good appraisals are strong sale comparables. This is why we exercise thoroughness in attempting to confirm all the sale comparables (comps) we use in our analyses. It is easy to use only the online information available (such as from CoStar or Xceligent) or the data recorded on the county’s Sales Validation Questionnaire, but our firm makes a point of speaking directly with those involved in transactions to obtain the story behind the sale. This is integral to the report because the information available online is not always accurate. Speaking with a person involved in a sale (a broker, buyer, or seller) allows us to not only confirm details, but to learn the context of the transaction and the property history. These factors help determine a final value. What many may not know is there are occasional instances of online information and county questionnaires being inaccurate. In fact, we have run into this when confirming sales. In one example, our appraiser found that the questionnaire obtained from the county inaccurately reported the sales price by nearly $20,000. With large amounts of money in the balance, we need to be as accurate as possible. When choosing a valuation firm make sure to utilize one that properly completes the sales confirmation process. Valbridge Property Advisors' dedication to accurate valuation means that we go the extra mile when it comes to the details, such as proper sale confirmations, necessary to ensure an accurate valuation.
What's in our bags? Read below to see some of the items we bring with us on property inspections. The Typical Items We Bring: An Aerial Map of the Property Printed Out: This is essential when you're on an inspection. It's a great way to find your bearings, especially when you're at a larger property. A Measuring Wheel: This item is used for measuring the square footage of properties. There are many resources online that can confirm the size of a property, but the only way to be 100 percent accurate is to measure it! A Smart Phone: This is necessary for many obvious reasons. The camera is essential for taking photos of the property, the internet access allows you to confirm findings or look up information, and using an app to record conversations allows you to gather information directly from the source. The Unusual Items We Bring: Work boots: These have come in handy more than once while inspecting agricultural land, quarries, or anything outdoors. A Lab Coat/Hair Net/Safety Glasses/Hard Hat: These are all items our appraisers have worn at one point on an inspection. Often times facilities may be used for food production and need to be sterile, or we may be on construction sites where hard hats are safety necessities. Gatorade: As our own Brock Heyde, MAI discovered, Gatorade comes in handy when walking a long stretch of abandoned railroad track during an inspection in August. Insect Repellent: One of our appraisers recently found out brown recluse bites are possible when inspecting a property and can land you in the hospital! Did we miss anything? Tell us in the comments below!
Some of the best things in life are free! This definitely includes several of the online resources we use in our line of work! As mentioned in previous blog posts, the report process begins by gathering data. This includes both paid and free sources, along with market participant interviews and a property inspection. Below is a collection of some of our favorite and most helpful free websites: -Economic Development Websites: These sites are really great for gaining insights into developments in your research area. The best part is, every major city should have one!
-GIS Websites: These are super helpful mapping and geographical data websites. -The US Department of Labor: This site has numerous labor statistics that help make report writing much easier! -U.S. Geological Survey: If you need topographical maps, this is definitely your site! -FEMA Flood Map Service Center Website: This site can give you extensive information about flood plains and flood risk factors. -Data USA Website: A great website for accurate data from all over the U.S.! And, last but not least: Google! What are some of your favorite free resources? Let us know in the comments below! We travel all over for assignments! Recently we visited Indiana to value a ballpark and New Orleans for a seven-assignment portfolio. Our director, Jason Roos, MAI, and researcher, Sean Ellington, visited Indiana for an assignment on a ballpark, in conjunction with Joe Alerding, MAI in our Valbridge Property Advisors | Indiana office. We have 68 offices across the country, which ensures that we can work where ever you need us! Recently, Senior Appraiser Andy Brand, was in New Orleans on assignments with the Valbridge Property Advisors | Louisiana office! We want to help you with your valuation needs. Click here to find an office near you!
Last week our own Jessica Perryman attended the 2017 Office Summit put on by MetroWireMedia! Stay tuned for a recap of the event below! Millennials: Millennials were a key discussion point when it came to many of the topics. Something of note; tenants will pay more for amenities to attract the millennial workforce. Coworking: It wouldn't be an office summit without discussing one of the hottest trends in Kansas City right now! Everyone was in agreement that this trend isn't going anywhere! Downtown Locations: Nothing says "live/work/play" more than a central downtown location! Suburban locations are incorporating many of these amenities as well. Market Opportunities: Many investors from the East and West coasts are looking for investment opportunities in the Kansas City area. This is especially true for office property types! For a more in-depth look at the events of that day please click here to read MetroWire's own recap! Don't forget to check out Jessica's pictures below: |
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