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!
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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!
Here at Valbridge | KC, we pride ourselves on our flexibility when it comes to different report types within the appraisal industry. This week we talk with our own Daniel Kann, MAI about Market Studies; specifically what they are and why they are so important. We hope you'll learn something from Daniel in this post, we certainly did! What is a Market Study? "A market study identifies the demand drivers for a particular type of property in a specific market or submarket. It calculates the residual demand based on current and projected growth and the amount of existing and future supply. In comparison, a marketability study focuses on how one particular property will interact within a market or submarket. Market studies are most commonly used in the multifamily space due to apartment projects being built on a speculative basis." Why Don’t Very Many People Perform Market Studies in KC? "Market analysis is part art and part science and requires an in depth analysis of the underlying fundamentals that drive supply and demand for a particular property type. The level of analysis included in a market study is not commonly utilized in daily appraisal practice creating a specialized niche within the valuation industry." Besides Here, Where Else Have You Performed These Studies? "I have recently traveled to Dallas, Richmond, Detroit, Jersey City, and New Orleans for market analysis. Traveling to an unfamiliar place and spending the time necessary to gain geographic competency allows you to learn interesting things about a particular city. After studying the urban core of Richmond, Virginia, my wife and I decided Richmond was a place that we would enjoy visiting and are planning to travel there in the near future." See Some of Daniel's Projects Below: We hope you were able to learn a little more about Market Studies! If you are interested in learning more or having a market study performed, click here to contact Daniel Kann. Since 2010 Daniel has specialized in all aspects of multiunit valuation, with an emphasis placed on marketability/feasibility studies and valuation for new construction. The last several years have been extremely active for multiunit housing. Daniel and the team completed valuation and consulting assignments totaling $2.3 billion in 2015 and $1.90 billion in 2016. Recent assignments in Kansas City include One Light, Two Light, Mission Farms, Woodside Village, Roaster’s Block, 51 Main, The Vue, Avenue 80, Prairie Fire Apartments, Union at Berkley Park, Heights at Linden Square, WaterSide on Quivira, and numerous loft and conversion projects in the urban core. Daniel is also active in the Section 8, Low Income Housing Tax Credit (Section 42), and senior housing space. Did you know that we often travel to places outside of Kansas City in order to provide much needed appraisal services? For instance, one of our MAIs, Jason Roos, frequently works in North Dakota, a state known for Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the flagship Scheels store, and the popular film and TV show Fargo! Jason himself is a great fit because he grew up there and has incredible knowledge of the market. Additionally, North Dakota has very few appraisers (only 8 MAIs within the state, compared to 81 and 127 in Kansas and Missouri respectively) because it has a small population density. In our new "On the Road" series, we'll explore all the unexpected places we visit for work. First stop -- North Dakota! What it is: Trains transport crude oil all over the country and unload it onto barges, tankers or pipelines for onward delivery. Where: Burke, ND. What it is: A tall structure used to support antennas for broadcasting. These structures are among some of the tallest man-made. Where: Bismarck, ND. What it is: Grand Cities Mall - Shopping Center. Where: Grand Forks, ND. What it is: A campground for recreational vehicles or caravans. Where: Williston, ND. We hope you've enjoyed reading about our work in lovely North Dakota! Click here to visit our website and see how we can work for you! Our contributor for this post was Jason Roos, MAI. Jason is an MAI designated member of the Appraisal Institute, and former President of the Appraisal Institute's Kansas City Chapter. He is a State Certified General Appraiser licensed in Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa. Jason is focused on providing clients with up-to-date, relevant and accurate market information as a director at Valbridge Property Advisors | Kansas City. Jason holds a degree from the University of North Dakota and enjoys cheering on their hockey team in his time off! Valbridge Property Advisors | Kansas City provides unbiased commercial real estate valuation for local, regional, and national clients. In business for over 39 years, the firm is led by six MAI-designated members of the Appraisal Institute. When it comes to appraising commercial real estate, you never know what you'll get to work on! Our work on complex projects includes everything from space rocket facilities to RV parks, and everything in between. Listed below are some of the most unique projects we've been able to assist with and the challenges that came with them. Challenges like these are what we encounter on a daily basis, which is why we highly recommend hiring an experienced appraiser for special-use projects like these. 1. Crude-By-Rail What it is: Trains transport crude oil all over the country and unload it onto barges, tankers or pipelines for onward delivery. Challenges of this property type: - Estimating Construction Costs - Economic obsolescence -Market analysis 2. Steel Mill What it is: Steel mills are industrial facilities where steel is manufactured. Challenges of this property type: - Estimating construction costs - Economic obsolescence -Market analysis 3. RV Park What it is: A campground for recreational vehicles or caravans. Challenges of this property type: -Type of user (recreational versus work related) -Forecasting demand What it is: A structure used to hold airplanes in protective storage. Challenges of this property type: Typical leases on hangars include varying rents that depend on the amount of fuel that is purchased (which is business value as well), so finding a market rent due solely to the real estate can be difficult to identify. What it is: An industrial facility for manufacturing space rockets. Challenges of this property type: It is rare that these sort of buildings sell on the open market, therefore the identification of comparable properties for a specialized facility like this can be difficult. Our contributor for this post was Jason Roos, MAI. Jason is an MAI designated member of the Appraisal Institute, and former President of the Appraisal Institute's Kansas City Chapter. He is a State Certified General Appraiser licensed in Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa. Jason is focused on providing clients with up-to-date, relevant and accurate market information as a director at Valbridge Property Advisors | Kansas City. Valbridge Property Advisors | Kansas City provides unbiased commercial real estate valuation for local, regional, and national clients. In business for over 38 years, the firm is led by five MAI-designated members of the Appraisal Institute. Our Director of Multifamily Valuation, Daniel Kann, was interviewed by The Kansas City Star on the apartment boom in the Kansas City Metro! Check out the article below, as well as Daniel's bio. Daniel Kann, MAI Daniel appraised over two billion dollars of multifamily real estate in 2015 and is MAI designated through The Appraisal Institute. As Director of Multifamily Valuation, he oversees and implements all things related to the property type. Recently, Daniel has traveled throughout the country (Omaha, Dallas, Philadelphia, and St. Louis to name a few places) for various market studies. Daniel received his bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Real Estate Finance and Marketing and is currently working on a master's in Real Estate finance and Construction from the University of Denver. Daniel is licensed in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. Have you considered a career in commercial real estate appraisal? In the video below, several of our Valbridge colleagues share why appraising is a great profession, and why it may be the perfect fit for you! Once you've decided appraising is the career for you - the same Valbridge colleagues share with you why Valbridge Property Advisors is a great place to work! Do you have an appraisal question you want to ask, but feel like you’re the only one with it? For the New Year we caught up with our Senior Managing Director, Laird Goldsborough, on frequently asked questions he received in 2015, and the answers he gives. Check out the list below to see if your question is answered. 1. How much does a standard commercial report cost? Answer: It depends. What the report will be used for, interest appraised, property type, etc. all come into play. 2. Can you send me a copy of the report (prepared for a bank, for example)? Answer: We can, but only if you are our client or if we get permission from our client - per regulations (USPAP). Client = person who engaged us. If you are the property owner, but did not engage us we must have permission to send you a report copy even though it’s your property. 3. Can you get the appraisal completed in two weeks? Answer: Mostly likely no. The appraisal process is threefold: gather, analyze, report. To go through all three steps and arrive at a reliable value the average time it takes for a report is three weeks, but often longer. 4. Can you just tell me what the value is? I don’t need much in writing - maybe a page ... Answer: No, per regulations (USPAP). As stated in the question above, to come to a reliable value you must go through the appraisal process of gathering data, analyzing the data and reporting the findings. Depending on your needs, a restricted appraisal may work for you. It is a shorter report. The appraiser does the same amount of data gathering and analysis, but much of the information is retained in the appraiser’s work file instead of written into the report. 5. Can I just get an update (of a report written five years ago)? Answer: No. The market changes, and with it real estate values change as well. Click here to learn more about the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). |
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