I Don’t Do That

I Don’t Do That. When I Tell People I am an Appraiser They Always Want to Know What Their House is Worth.

This happens without fail every time I am out to dinner or at a corporate function with my wife and some of her colleagues –

My wife’s colleague trying to make small talk with me says “So, Greg what do you do?”
And I always say the same thing “I am a commercial appraiser”
And they say “I am thinking about selling my house in blah blah city, what you think it is worth?”
And I say “I have no idea”
And they say “Oh”
And I say “I don’t appraise houses”

At which time they kind of look at me perplexed and either change the subject or ask me to pass the bread.

In all fairness not everyone needs a commercial real estate appraisal so I guess it is understandable that many have no idea what a commercial appraiser does. So I thought I’d take a minute to highlight some differences. Well actually, I won’t highlight differences, because I don’t do residential appraisals. But I will highlight what we do for our clients at FRG.

After client engagement the appraisal process typically starts with a physical exterior and interior inspection of the subject property. The FRG team then considers the ‘highest and best use’ for the property as that often will have an impact on valuation. The team collects and analyzes a great deal of data including the subject property’s financial, operating and expense statements as well as leases. During this time the team is also researching comparable lease rates to determine market rents. FRG is fortunate to have a great research team that uses proprietary and syndicated data to complete extensive market analysis, and if a specialized property, like a bowling alley, industry analysis. In a matter of days the team has compiled reams of data that we use to complete the valuation of the property.

For me, doing a commercial appraisal is like being an actor on an episode of CSI. It’s a forensics project – the building can’t talk and no two buildings are the same – so it’s an investigative journey to provide our clients quality valuations time and time again.

So next time I am asked “So, Greg what do you do?” I guess I’ll whip out my Windows phone (more people should have this phone it is way better than iPhones or Droids, sorry I digress) and tell them to read this post. Actually, I am pretty sure, I won’t do that as I am sure that my wife would kill me if I did….so I’ll just pass the bread.