Been working on an Insurance Replacement Appraisal

It's been a couple of days since I've posted because any quiet time has been dedicated to creating a new appraisal. The charge was to create an up-to-date appraisal for Insurance Purposes. The family had an estate appraisal done in 1990 by respected local antiques dealers Albert (Sandy) & Marjorie Dow of Center Tuftonboro.

I made my list in the house, starting as I walked in the door and going from left to right, top to bottom, in each room, listing as much as I could possibly see without getting to nosey. Then I was given the previous appraisal and noted that during the past 20 years while I moved 9 times this women had barely moved or removed even one piece from the previous list.

The tricky part came in trying to dovetail the two lists of inventory. The Dow's had listed what we called English scrubbed pine as "deal" wood. I hadn't heard it called that but sure enough, I looked it up and it was a real definition. These pieces were all the rage in the late 1980's and through the 1990's when we first got in the business, but these pieces, along with most furniture, has dropped dramatically.

I trusted most of the prices on glass and porcelain because Marjorie excelled in that field but also on the early cast iron and kitchen utensils of which Sandy Dow as an expert. It's funny to see how many of the prices listed on the earlier appraisal are still in step because prices rose and prices dropped so many of the prices we see now-a-days are very similar to the prices in 1990. Sad but true.

There are many kinds of appraisals basically broken down as follows:
1. Insurance replacement which is exactly what it sounds like. The cost it would take for an insurance company to replace an item with like or similar item with little effort.

2. Estate Tax purposes which is used in the probate court system to determine the value of an item at todays fair market value. Fair market value is defined as the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would exchange on any given day, neither being under the compulsion to buy or sell.

3. Liquidation Value which is basically what you could expect an antiques dealer to give your or what you could expect from an auctioneer after their fees.

As you can well imagine these prices can be dramatically different and it's very important an appraiser and an owner have a meeting of the minds as to what the value would, could and should be.

For instance, under the estate appraisal upholstered furniture like the sofa and 2 chairs were listed at $100 for the set but I can easily see it would cost $1,500 for the owner to go out and buy similar quality.

This appraisal was especially tedious because of the quantity this women had (10 pages single spaced typing) and also because of having to re-align her expectations. It'll be a Christmas present to her and a burden off my shoulders as we get ready to leave on our trip after Christmas.

I'm getting excited! Stay tuned!