Insurance Appraisal, Commercial Property

Insurance Appraisals for commercial properties involve estimating the Replacement Cost New of buildings and site improvements.

Insurance Agencies submit policies to Insurance Companies and often rely on Insurance Appraisals to document the cost-to-replace structures and site improvements in the event of a disaster such as fire, earthquake, hurricane etc.

With over 30 years of commercial RE appraisal experience, Dan Peele is well qualified to handle your appraisal needs, web site www.danpeele.com
Insurance Appraisals for Commercial Property

Samples: Please contact Mr. Peele for a Sample "Redacted" Appraisal 
407-286-5584  Office:
407-230-1023  Cell
dan@danpeele.com

Insurance Appraisals for Condominiums and Apartments

 Insurance Appraisals for Condominiums


Florida Law requires Condo Associations to carry Hazard Insurance and sometimes Flood Insurance on the common elements of a condominium such as the building structure, walkways, pools, etc.

Florida Law also requires that Insurance Companies obtain appraisals from qualified, competent professionals to ensure that sufficient insurance coverage is in place to pay for the repair or replacement of structures damaged by natural disasters.

Appraisal fees from national companies start at $1,500 and delivery can take up to 4 weeks but Dan's fees are considerably less.

Turnaround is typically less than (2) weeks. Our service area includes central Florida from Orlando to Tampa to Jacksonville and south to Melbourne and Sarasota.

Florida Law does not require the appraiser to be licensed as a State Certified General Appraiser, only that the person meets certain basic requirements.  

Dan is a licensed State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, RZ 887 & founder of Central Florida Appraisal Consultants (CFAC), based in Orlando, FL.

As a 30 year trusted veteran of commercial real estate appraisal, Dan Peele provides the highest quality Insurance Appraisals that meet or exceed Citizens Insurance Company requirements and all other insurance providers, please contact Dan for References.

We use the most widely accepted software in the industry and provide a comprehensive & thorough checklist for data input and for use by insurers to ensure that adequate, but not excessive, insurance is carried.


Mr. Peele can be reached at 407-286-5584 or 407-230-1023

or go to his website at www.DanPeele.com

Commercial Property Listings, How to Tell If they are at Market Value

Commercial RE falls into two categories, owner-occupant or investor

Prices paid for owner-occupant properties are primarily based on two valuation techniques, the Sale Comparison Approach and/or the Cost Approach.

Owner-occupant commercial properties include office condo, restaurant, auto repair, small office-warehouse, church, day care, small retail, etc. This property category is discussed here.

Flyer on LoopNet says Auto Repair Shop for sale, 5,000 SF steel frame metal building with 10% AC office constructed in 1995.  Site contains 25,000 SF site with primary road frontage, AVAILABLE for $900,000.

Step 1: Determine the underlying land value by talking to appraisers and RE Brokers in the area.  Send a "Tax Map" of the property by email to an appraiser and ask what similar sites sell for.  Let's say the land is worth $10 PSF, site value is then $250,000.

Step 2: Subtract $250,000 from the asking price of $900,000 and you get $650,000 allocated to the "improvements" which consist of both building and site improvements such as paving, lighting, etc. Next, divide $650,000 by 10,000 of enclosed or heated building area and you get $65 PSF.

Step 3: Call a contractor who constructs this type of building and ask how much it cost to build new.  Or, call an appraiser, send photos of the building and ask him or her to check their Marshall Valuation Service (MVS) cost estimating manual.  Also, ask how much depreciation is appropriate.

Step 4: Last, add the depreciated cost of the building and site improvements, also called the contributory value of improvements, to the land value.  

Knowledgeable builders use this technique very effectively since they often purchase sites on behalf of their clients and they therefore often know land value. Also, since they price buildings for clients, they know replacement costs. The recap is as follows:

Listing or Asking Price           $900,000
Less: Land Value of                $250,000
= Residual to Improvements  $650,000 / 10,000 SF = $65 PSF (unit-of-comparison)

Sales Comparison Approach
dan@danpeele.com
Using the technique just described, let's look at comparable listings found on LoopNet, Commercial Search or the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and now-be-able to make sense of the information.

Step 1: Subtract the estimated land value from the asking price and you get to the asking price of the improvements.  Divide the asking price of the improvements by the sq. ft. (SF) of enclosed or heated area.  Make sure to be consistent with enclosed area, this is called your unit-of-comparison.

Try to avoid using a unit-of-comparison that includes land and improvements, these are called "blended" PSF figures and can be very misleading since the underlying land value of a given site can vary dramatically (on a PSF basis) and/or the land-to-building ratio may be very different.

Daniel Peele is a licensed State Certified General RE Appraiser RZ 887 and a Commercial Realtor Associate with Charles Rutenberg Realty of Orlando.  Dan is the founding member of Central Florida Appraisal Consultants located in north Orlando, FL  Please go to www.DanPeele.com for more......

How to Select a Commercial Real Estate Appraiser

The Florida Department of Professional Regulation (DBPR) licenses appraisers and you can verify a persons license on the DBPR website.

Appraisers are divided into two categories for licensing purposes, residential and commercial.  Some, not many, are licensed to appraise in both categories but most choose to work in one category or the other.

Residential appraisers are restricted to a fairly narrow range of properties but are well suited for most residential assignments.  

Commercial appraisers are allowed to appraise residential and commercial property with no restrictions as to dollar value of any kind.

Designations: A number of trade associations for appraisers exist to promote education and professionalism.  Many very good appraisers are designated and many very good appraisers are not. On its own, the designation itself is meaningless.
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USPAP: Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice is a body of rules and requirements that all appraisers must adhere to.  The FREAB or Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board enforces USPAP in Florida.

Most commercial RE appraisers work for commercial banks as independent-contract-appraisers in the area of mortgage loans.  Banks typically loan say 80% of the appraised value or 80% of the purchase price, whichever is less.  

Competency: Ask the appraiser if he or she has appraised any property similar to that of what you need appraised.  Ask bank loan officers for referrals.  It's possible for example, that a competent hotel appraiser might not know anything about the appraisal of restaurants and vice versa.

Time: Two weeks is the typical time required to complete an assignment since the appraiser has one weeks worth of work to complete before starting on your new assignment.

Estate Appraisal for IRS vs Mortgage Loan Appraisal

For the first type, you can order your own, for the second type, the bank must order it for you.

Cost: A small owner-occupied office condo could cost as little as $900 while a larger, multi-tenant office building could cost around $3,000.  Non-bank customers must typically pay the full fee in advance.

Big vs small shop:  National companies such as CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield are good choices for larger properties such as regional malls, large apartment complexes, etc. 

For smaller properties of say under $1 Million, smaller shops will often offer a lower fee with the same work quality as the larger shop.  Ask for a "Sample" report.

PDF: Ask if the appraisal will be in a PDF format along with the typical "hard copy".  Ask how many hard copies are included in the price before additional charges apply for extra copies.
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Dan Peele is the founding member and major shareholder of Central Florida Appraisal Consultants in Longwood, FL.  

Mr. Peele, ASA, has been active in central Florida real estate since 1984 and is a licensed State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, RZ 887.


www.CFAppraisal.com  or 407-862-8405  or dan@danpeele.com

Real Estate, Orlando, FL

February, 2016

By Dan Peele, ASA, Cert Gen RZ 887, CFAC President 

Broker-Associate with Charles Rutenberg Realty of Orlando

After appraising real estate in central Florida (Orlando) for over 30 years, I have learned a few things and want to share some of this knowledge.  This article was written as a guide for those who are relocating to Florida..

Buying a New Home

It pays to pay, meaning that you are best served by paying a Realtor a fee-for-advise as a consultant. Most people don't do this. 

Since Realtors work on a commission, many believe that paying them as consultants is unwarranted since, after all, they work for "free" until you buy something.

Keep this in mind, Realtors know where the best places to live and work are. Your job is to get educated first.  Pay several different agents to show you on a map, the best places to live and explain to you why they are the best.  

Next, find the must suitable properties within those locations.  The location is the most important element!.  A new home in a close-in location is ideal but often difficult to find since close-in locations are typically built-out. 

Solution: 

Buy an older home and hire a contractor to renovate it with new electrical, plumbing, etc. This "new" home in it's close-in location will reduce your drive-time to work and likely be much easier to re-sell.

Renting for a year could be a wise choice since it would allow you to take-your-time in making a well thought-out decision.

Sincerely,

Dan Peele