Finding your Niche: Machinery and Equipment Appraising
Editor's Note: Second in a series designed to help you diversify and grow. Look for additional installments in this bi-weekly email edition of WRE.
Finding Your Niche:
Machinery & Equipment Appraising
by Cary Barker, Ast. Editor
In the thick of the refi. boom, the worry of
not having enough work did not seem possible. But cycles being what they
are, lender work has slowed to a trickle. In these challenging times, many
appraisers are looking for alternate ways to apply their skills. One niche to
consider is appraising machinery and equipment.
Appraisers who can do both real estate and machinery and equipment appraisals are in a position to increase their referrals. A company that needs an appraisal for their machinery and equipment may also need an appraisal for the commercial and/or residential real
estate that may be involved and vise versa.
WRE spoke with Rob Mathews, CMEA (Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser), who says any appraiser who is taking pictures and collecting information already has the bare basics for what they need to do machinery and equipment appraisals. Of course, additional information and study is required to become certified to appraise machinery and equipment.
Mathews is an appraiser who has worked with a prominent mergers and acquisition firm for about six years. "For us, there were big spaces between big payments, so we realized that we needed more than one source of income. We needed to fill in the spaces with a more consistent source of income. This type of appraisal does not compete with what we were already doing," said Mathews. "We could do the machinery appraisals without taking away from what we had already established."
The Appraisals
Machinery and equipment appraisals can take anywhere from a day to a week
depending on the number of items to appraise and the amount of information the
client provides, says Mathews. "NEBB (National
Equipment & Business Builders Institute) has a laundry list of what you
should ask for, and what to bring with you- oven cleaner, steel wool. How long
it takes is dictated by the size of job and the information that you get or ask
for."
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