Independent opinions of value for office, industrial and warehouse, multifamily and retail property — developed to USPAP standards for financing, acquisition, disposition, financial reporting, property-tax and litigation purposes.
An appraisal answers one question: what is a defined property interest worth, as of a defined effective date, for a defined intended use. That is a different question from the one a market report answers. A market report explains how a market is performing — rents, vacancy, absorption, concessions, competitive supply and comparable sale evidence across a property type or geography. An appraisal applies recognised valuation methodology to a single subject property and reaches a supported conclusion of value. Market research is frequently an input to an appraisal, but a market report is not itself an appraisal and does not constitute an opinion of value.
Wert-Berater performs both disciplines and keeps them in separate engagements, with separate scope, separate deliverables and separate fees. Where a transaction needs both, the market research and the appraisal can be coordinated so that the valuation assignment draws on current primary market evidence rather than stale secondary data.
Single-tenant and multi-tenant office, medical office and flex office. Analysis addresses market rent by class and submarket, vacancy and availability including sublease space, concession and free-rent packages, operating-expense structures and recovery methods, lease rollover exposure, and comparable sale evidence including price per square foot and capitalisation-rate indications where the data support them.
Distribution, warehouse, light manufacturing and flex industrial. Building characteristics drive value in this class — clear height, column spacing, dock and drive-in configuration, trailer parking, power, office finish ratio and site coverage — alongside market rent, availability, absorption, land sale evidence and functional or economic obsolescence.
Conventional and affordable apartment property and build-to-rent communities. Analysis addresses asking and effective rents, rent per unit and per square foot, occupancy and physical vacancy, concessions, unit mix and amenity positioning, lease-up performance where applicable, operating-expense trends and reserves, and comparable apartment sales expressed per unit and per square foot.
Shopping centres, grocery-anchored and neighbourhood centres, strip retail, single-tenant net-lease property and owner-occupied retail. Requirements differ materially among these formats — anchor strength, tenant mix, lease structure and term, trade-area demand and competing retail nodes all bear on the income analysis and on the selection of comparable evidence.
Property whose value depends on an operating business — hotels, healthcare and senior-living facilities, entertainment venues and special-purpose plants — is handled under Special-Purpose & Going-Concern Appraisal, where the real estate, the business enterprise and the tangible personal property are valued and allocated as one integrated assignment.
Closed sales of competing property, adjusted for location, physical characteristics, condition, market conditions at the date of sale and the property rights conveyed. The reliability of this approach depends on the depth and comparability of the available evidence, which is stated in the report rather than assumed.
Direct capitalisation and, where the assignment warrants it, discounted cash flow. Inputs — market rent, vacancy and collection loss, operating expenses, reserves, lease-up and rollover assumptions, capitalisation and discount rates — are supported from market evidence and disclosed, so that a reviewer can test them.
Replacement or reproduction cost less depreciation, plus land value. Applied where it is relevant to the assignment — newer improvements, thin sale evidence, insurance or financial-reporting purposes, or where physical, functional and external obsolescence need to be measured explicitly.
Highest and best use is tested as vacant and as improved against what is legally permissible, physically possible, financially feasible and maximally productive. The approaches applied are then reconciled into a single conclusion, with the weight given to each explained.
Common intended uses include acquisition and disposition decisions, refinance, collateral underwriting, partnership and shareholder matters, financial reporting, property-tax matters, litigation and dispute resolution, highest-and-best-use questions, and workout or distressed-asset analysis.
Wert-Berater’s Senior Valuation Advisor holds the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute, where he has been a member since 2006, and the ASA-GC (Going Concern) designation from the American Society of Appraisers. He is also a Business Certified Appraiser (BCA) and a Certified Machinery/Equipment Appraiser (CMEA). He maintains Certified General real estate appraiser licenses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and has appraisal experience in at least 25 states. He is a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and is also the owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.
Special Purpose Realty Valuation — 402 Birmingham Avenue, Manchester, NJ 08759 · (732) 374-9064. That is Mr. Jones’s own firm; it is not a Wert-Berater, Inc. office.
These designations and licenses are held personally by Bruce E. Jones. The analysts who prepare Wert-Berater market reports and feasibility studies do not hold these appraisal designations and do not sign appraisal reports.
Where a lender, owner or counsel needs the market context behind the numbers, our custom market reports can be commissioned alongside — or independently of — an appraisal assignment: office market analysis, industrial and warehouse market reports, multifamily market analysis, retail market reports, gas station and truck stop market analysis, hospital and ASC market reports. These reports analyse the market. They are not appraisals and do not state an opinion of value.
If you are still deciding which engagement a transaction needs, Feasibility Study vs. Appraisal sets out the distinction in more detail.
No. A market report analyzes supply, demand, competition and market conditions for a property type or geography. An appraisal develops an opinion of value for a specific property or property interest as of a defined effective date and for an identified intended use. A transaction may require one or both, and they are separate engagements with separate deliverables.
This service covers conventional income-producing commercial real estate: office buildings, industrial and warehouse property, multifamily and apartment property, and retail property. Property whose value depends on an operating business, such as hotels, fuel and travel centers, healthcare facilities and special-purpose plants, is handled under our special-purpose and going-concern appraisal service, which addresses the real estate, the business enterprise and the tangible personal property as an integrated assignment.
Bruce E. Jones holds Certified General real estate appraiser licenses in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and has appraisal experience in at least 25 states. Assignments outside the states of licensure are completed in accordance with applicable state appraiser licensing and temporary practice requirements. Because those requirements vary by state, jurisdiction is confirmed before an assignment is accepted.
Yes. Appraisal assignments are developed to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The scope of work, the interest appraised, the definition of value, the effective date and the intended use and intended users are established in writing at engagement, and conclusions are never contingent on a predetermined outcome or on the amount of the value opinion.
No. An appraisal is developed for an identified intended use and identified intended users, and it is not automatically suitable for a different purpose. An appraisal prepared for collateral underwriting, for example, may not be appropriate for financial reporting or for a property-tax appeal. If the intended use changes, the assignment generally needs to be re-scoped.
Appraisal fees are separately scoped and quoted based on the property, the intended use, the effective date, the jurisdiction and the assignment requirements. Fees are not contingent on the value reported, on a predetermined result, or on the occurrence of a subsequent event. Appraisal is not sold as a fixed-price product and is not included in any market-report package.
Legal disclosure. Wert-Berater, Inc. offices are mailing addresses only. Following the COVID-19 pandemic the firm has elected to work remotely; its office locations receive mail and are not staffed for visitors or in-person meetings. Headquarters mailing address: 1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.
Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.