Appraisal Matters

It isn’t during recessions that regional malls shows signs of problems.  There are lots of reasons why a regional mall could show signs of decline even during hot real estate markets, low interest rates and peak retail demand.  Let’s explore.
Examining the Financial Reports

As standard due diligence, appraisers either request copies of all leases with addenda [...]

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The last seven days have been very interesting.  Over the past five years, there were TONS of people lending on small commercial properties.  Loan volumes surpassed local banks and the SBA.  Their secret to being able to lend was a very active secondary market where the loans were securitized and sold.  This then freed up [...]

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As you can tell by the prior post in this series, the value of the dry lake marina is not the main issue.  The real question to be answered is whether it is financially feasible to restart the marina and if not, at what market value it would be.  Ironically, this is tied into value [...]

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There are a small number of marina assignments that have the word “tough” all over.  Whether it is man-made or through an Act of God, a marina that has gone dry certainly deserves to be put in this category.  Although few marinas have this problem, those owners and lenders that have them have a very [...]

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As many marina people in the industry know, Amendment 6 in Florida passed… by a whopping 70.5 percent!  Amendment 6 requires that all Florida marinas must be assessed via value in use.  It is a very big deal because this may be the beginning of a trend for marinas to receive “assessment breaks” similar to [...]

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I’ve preferred to stay away from commenting on new articles, but sometimes even the silent must speak.  Take an article that posted yesterday on MSNBC.com from the Associated Press.  The title tells you all you need to know about the writer’s bias, Economy has boat owners abandoning ship.  Let me show you a few of [...]

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We get a common question from marina owners all the time that goes something like this:  how do I know my assessment is too high without paying for an appraisal?  In the upcoming January edition of Marina Dock Age, I’ve written an article on tax appealing your marina.  I’m not going to steal the thunder [...]

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Over the past several months, we’ve been approached by multiple groups that are interested in buying troubled marinas.  Their selection and investment patterns differ, but there are several important threads running through each deal.  One is buying them for 50 to 60 cents on the dollar.  They’re willing to pay cash, so a deal can [...]

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Finally we come to the most important part of the marina appraisal - the income approach.  Get it wrong here and the appraisal is likely a lost cause.
Show Me The Money!
The first thing I like to do when I’m reviewing the income approach in a marina appraisal is check to see if the income projections [...]

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I’m not a big fan of the sales comparison approach for marina appraisals.  Don’t get me wrong - extracting a cap rate from a sales is the best technique to get it.  But when it comes to reviewing sales comparisons, it is not an easy job because you don’t have the same checks and balances [...]

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Welcome to the marina Cost Approach.  Want to know something funny?  I hope it isn’t there!  I’ll write a blog about this in the future, but let’s just say that I don’t believe it to be reliable.  Still, the focus here is on reviewing a cost approach, so I intend to give you the benefit [...]

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So let’s turn a page or two and get to the Description of the Improvements section.  We’ll definitely will be getting a mental picture because this section has pictures.  So we scan those first to see what we’ve got and to prepare ourselves for reviewing the writeup.
The Buildings
Marina buildings tend to follow similar patterns.  Quality [...]

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The Site Description section is typically the easiest part of an appraisal to write.  Thanks to online data systems, getting pretty and timely maps is almost too easy.  Appraisers know how to describe topography and other basic site features.  I’ve said before that each marina has a story to tell and the Site Description is [...]

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I’ve been so looking forward to this post.  There are just so many things I want to set straight.  Don’t spoil my fun… read on!
The Market Analysis section is, in my opinion, is typically the largest collection of wasted paper in a marina appraisal.  Market analysis is very important… if done correctly.  Sadly, I’d say [...]

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