Object Investigation for the Personal Property Appraiser: Toward a Reconciliation of Contemporary Valuation Documentation with Theoretical Requirements and Uniform Standards

Date of Award

12-1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Valuation Sciences

Department

Business

First Advisor

Richard Rickert

Second Advisor

Patricia Soucy

Third Advisor

June L. Johnson

Abstract

The initial goal of this project was to address the general and long- standing interest in better value documentation for personal property appraisals--a proposition which turned out to be more complicated than at first expected. It seemed insufficient to topically address aspects of the appraisal document-description of the property being appraised, research on the object, collection of market data, presentation of data analysis, articulation of methods used in arriving at value conclusions--as if they could be improved independently of each other or of the program which they serve. An enthusiastic student could easily push contemplation of any one aspect so far afield as to lose sight of its functional contribution to the overall appraisal process and distort its proportional relationship with all other aspects of the document. Equally mindful of the pitfalls of addressing only one aspect of a complex procedure and the classical constraints of the thesis form, this study confines itself to those aspects of the appraisal report which pertain to discovery, description, and recording of a subject property's essential characteristics. Finding a tool that purely serves the purpose of object investigation seemed instrumental in improving this portion of the appraisal process . The program this research deemed most suitable is the Fleming Artifact Study Model . This model is herein ,explicated and demonstrated through a subject property examination in order to show its potential for delineating value-influencing object characteristics in a thorough and scholarly way.

For the sake of clarity as well as economy, this work adheres to a couple of concepts . First, a useful, i f academic, distinction between two sets of information- -one about the object itself, one about the market's response to the object- -is clearly maintained. Second is the concept that value determination of personal property (arts and antiques) is always approached through market comparison- -a dubious assumption, granted, but one that simplifies discussion. Any reader who wishes to test the program offered herein for applicability to other approaches (Income and Cost) is encouraged to do so as he follows along this discussion .

Early portions of this work, which dwell on theoretical issues, are intended to hold the reader just long enough to share in contemplation of where contemporary personal property valuation practice stands in relation to its sibling disciplines. Hopefully, these humble theoretical findings can be woven back into the larger fabric of the overall appraisal process. The latter portions of this paper are intended to instruct as much as inform the reader, enabling him with a rudimentary tool for further investigation and empowering him with suggestions for later refinement on the tool in hand .

Comments

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