Popular television shows like Antiques Roadshow and American Pickers have done a lot to stimulate the public's interest in art, antiques or collectibles that they may have sitting around the house. Maybe that oil painting signed, `T. Cole’ you picked up at an estate sale is by the Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole. Maybe that porcelain vase your grandfather bought in Asia as a soldier during WWII is actually a valuable Ming Dynasty vase.

Professional personal property appraisers, those of us who appraise fine art, collectibles, rare books and antiques among many other types of things, routinely receive queries like this. When we ask potential clients what the purpose of the appraisal is, they will often say, “I just want to know what it is worth.” Sounds straightforward but as any professional appraiser will tell you, the answer is not so simple. Is the appraisal for insurance, for sale, asset division or for charitable donation or estate tax calculation? Is it a loss claim? These purposes will dictate the scope of the report, and the type of value. Valuation is also tied to date, such as the date of inspection (insurance), date of loss (loss claim), date of death (estate tax), date of donation (charitable contribution) to name some examples.

Clients would prefer that you “just give them a number.” But the appraisal process that we follow is really about protecting them from conflicts of interest, and providing assurance that the valuation is “arms-length.” The origin of the modern, regulated appraisal profession goes back to 1989. In the wake of the Savings & Loan crisis, Congress stepped in to regulate the valuation of not only Real Estate and Business but also Personal Property; that is everything tangible, from cars and boats, to books, art and antiques, gems and jewelry to sports memorabilia and more. 

Congress authorized the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation to codify appraisal practice which became known as The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). These procedures, guidelines and ethical standards for appraisal is a regularly update enforceable set of rules regulating the appraisal profession.

A USPAP-compliant appraiser pledges to produce an arms-length valuation of properties based on the current market and the intended use of the appraisal. While USPAP protects the consumer and provides much needed standards and guidelines for the professional appraiser, it has also made report production more complex and time-consuming. Here at Appraisal Scribe, we know how much goes into producing a USPAP compliant report. Appraisal Scribe is up to speed on what you need, and offers a modern, cloud-based solution to help you efficiently produce an USPAP compatible appraisal report. Follow us as we continue to add features to streamline the appraisal process. 

Twenty-five years ago I was a newly minted Ph.D. in Chinese Art and Archaeology from New York University, Institute of Fine Arts. It had been a long road and I loved every minute of it.  

Researching and writing my dissertation on an elaborately carved Han Dynasty (2nd century CE) stone tomb was the highlight of my graduate school years, and included an academic year at Shandong University in Ji’nan, China with field trips to archaeological sites in Shandong and nearby provinces where such tombs were found.

I subsequently had a fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in Visual Arts at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. where I began writing my dissertation. I was also pregnant with my first child, so in a sense I was gestating two babies. A couple of years later, I had a toddler and a Ph.D. and found myself living in San Diego, now pregnant with my second child. As anyone with children knows, the best laid plans inevitably change once you become a parent. After stints teaching at UCLA and UCSD as well a curatorial work at museums in Orange County and San Diego, I began to reconsider my career goals. I loved San Diego and didn’t want to move for a job. I also wanted a flexible work schedule so I could have enough time with my young children. How could I use my analytical, research and writing skills and also get paid well? As I cast about for options, I stumbled upon the idea of becoming an appraiser, a profession that I was barely aware of, much less had ever considered. The more I looked into the appraisal profession, the more I realized how much overlap there was with my academic training: specialized knowledge and connoisseurship, attention to detail, excellent research, writing and communication skills. To become an accredited appraiser at the American Society of Appraisers required more study but after going through the four courses and taking the USPAP exam, I could start working right away and begin building the hours necessary to become accredited. I decided to jump in.

Take a product tour of Appraisal Scribe at the video link below

Want to learn more about Appraisal Scribe’s cloud based platform for appraisers? We will be an exhibitor at Appraisers Association of America, Of Value: 2023 National Conference at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan on November 8th-9th. Please stop by to meet the founders, and for live demos!

We are gearing up to make Appraisal Scribe available to subscribers the end of April. We will be demo-ing our product at the ASA Personal Property Symposium, April 30-May 2nd. One of the most requested features from our Beta testers was more flexibility formatting appraisal reports. So we are in the midst of testing editable templates which will allow you to create a library of templates to choose from. Unlike many template systems, you will be able to switch formats at any time during or after report production.

What is Beta testing?

It is a phase in software development before an application is launched when customers can take it out for a spin to identify bugs, give feedback on usability and request features. As a Beta tester you will have input on the development process so that we can offer a great product.

If you are interested, join our mailing list or email info@appraisalscribe.com and we will get back to you with the details.

Hello from the Appraisal Scribe team! After months of hard work, the beta launch grows ever nearer. The graphic below illustrates how our collaborative report writer is designed with your workflow in mind. I have been using Appraisal Scribe for my appraisal reports and have found it to be a real time saver. I hope you will too. In the meantime sign up for our mailing list to participate in our Beta program or be notified of our launch!