Appraisal Basics – Personal Property

All About Personal Property Appraisals

Many of our clients have never worked with an appraiser before and know very little about personal property appraisals. To take some of the mystery out of the process, here are some helpful definitions pertaining to personal property appraisals in general and about what to expect when you hire WorthWise for your personal property appraisal needs.

So, What is Personal Property Anyway?

To understand personal property appraisals, it helps to first know what personal property is!

Generally, personal property is defined as the identifiable, moveable, and tangible assets like furnishings, artwork, antiques, jewelry, equipment, and collectibles. In essence, it is everything but the house, land and any permanent improvements to it. Those things are considered to be real property rather than personal property.

Next, it helps to know that personal property can be depreciable or appreciable. Depreciable personal property decreases in value over time and with use such as most automobiles, typical contemporary household furnishings or electronic equipment. Appreciable personal property is property that generally increases in monetary value over time such as fine art, antiques, and collectibles.

What is a Personal Property Appraiser?

Obviously, a personal property appraiser is someone who provides an opinion of value or cost of personal property. But more than that, it is someone who is qualified to do so in a manner that is competent, independent, impartial, and objective. And since appraising rules and requirements change on a regular basis, it is important that an appraiser maintain the most current credentialing available through their professional appraiser association, engage in required ongoing education, and adhere to the strict codes of conduct and report writing standards established for the profession. Appraiser certifications expire every few years, and must be kept current!

Personal Property Appraisals

Personal property appraisals are then numerical opinions of value or cost of clearly defined articles of personal property as of a particular point in time.

These opinions are normally delivered in a formal, highly detailed appraisal report. Such reports must include a clear statement of the intended use of the report, the scope and types of analyses performed by the appraiser, a clear description of the properties appraised, and the resulting appraised value or cost opinions for each property. Furthermore, appraisal reports must comply with detailed and rigorous established professional criteria as set forth by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and with the ethical codes of the profession.

WorthWise Personal Property Appraisals

When you hire WorthWise Art and Antiques Appraisers to perform your personal property appraisals, we will help you make sure you are including the right personal property in your appraisal report. Not all personal property, even appreciable personal property, is a good fit for a formal appraisal process. For example, properties with values anticipated to be below certain IRS established thresholds may not need to be appraised for donation purposes. Similarly, properties with anticipated values below certain insurance policy limits may not need to be appraised for special insurance rider coverages. And properties that are particularly worn or damaged may simply not be worth the cost to appraise them. If you aren’t sure which properties to include in your appraisal, WorthWise will help you sort that out.