Christine Jones Joins the City of San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture

The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture has hired Christine Jones to serve as the Public Art Project Coordinator. Jones will be responsible for managing the City’s art collection, processing donations and loans of artwork, and coordinating the maintenance of artworks. She is also responsible for bringing new public art projects to completion and assisting in the administration of the Public Art Program.

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The San Diego Chapter of the ASA Nominations Committee proposed the following slate of officers for 2007-8 to the Chapter Board, and the slate was approved.

President: Pamela Bensoussan, ASA
1st Vice President: Rick Engstrom, ASA
2nd Vice President: Christine Jones, AM
Secretary: Garrett Goldfield, Candidate
Treasurer: Georgie Stillman, ASA

The San Diego Chapter Board thanks these individuals for their desire to take the time and effort to serve the Chapter and the Membership. There are many tasks and responsibilities involved in serving on the Chapter board and we appreciate those who are willing to make this serious commitment. We have seen our chapter grow and prosper in recent years due to the active hands-on leadership style of our dedicated officers.

Nominations will be taken at the March 20th ASA San Diego Chapter monthly meeting. If you wish to run for officer and can not attend the meeting, please call Georgie Stillman, ASA at 619-593-9000.

Voting will take place via email ballot in April.

The following application for Advancement has been received. If you have any comments on the application(s) please contact Membership Chairperson Pamela Bensoussan, ASA by telephone (619-420-7782) or by email.

Christine Jones, AM advancing to Accredited Senior Appraiser

The San Diego ASA Chapter’s 7-hour USPAP Update course was a huge success. Twenty-one (21) individuals signed up for the class, and many came from other areas – Washington state, LA, and the San Francisco area!

Was it the very low cost package the San Diego ASA put together or the opportunity to combine business & pleasure in the San Diego area that made the class so popular?

Judging from the enthusiastic audience participation, it was due in large part to instructor Bill Novotny’s ability to convey the normally dry USPAP material in a clear and meaningful way with a focus on personal property applications. Bill’s profound knowledge of the principals guiding the USPAP Standards, joined with his many years in the field working as an antique appraiser, helped make the obtuse aspects of the document understandable. The participants agreed that they will be able to improve their USPAP compliance after this class.

For personal property appraisers, this PP emphasis made a big difference in their class experience. The many senior and seasoned appraisers in the room were able to share experiences to provide examples of how USPAP standards can be applied in real life situations. Two often overlooked benefits became increasingly clear to class participants: USPAP compliance provides an important layer of protection from liability and significantly increases the appraiser’s chances to survive intense scrutiny in a litigious assignment.

Finally, the King's Inn venue provided a relaxed and easy setting. The U-shaped seating format in a large comfortable room, the abundant food and refreshments, free and easy parking, and reasonable room rates for out of town guests, all added to a stress-free learning environment – did I mention this was an exam-free class?

Thank you to Pamela Bensoussan, ASA and Kathi Jablonsky, ISA CAPP for all their work in putting together the class and marketing effectively. The ASA San Diego Chapter is very fortunate to have the support of two such skilled leaders. In spite of the low cost, the Chapter made money on this endeavor, which will go to support our marketing efforts for our membership.

USPAP Course Photos

 

Kathi Jablonsky, Emily Newell, & Jan Jessie Jocoy

 

Steve Rosefeld & Annette Jones

Bill Novotny, Instructor
George Le Baron & Jeff Anderson

The “Appropriate Marketplace” Issue

It is the appraiser’s responsibility to determine the appropriate market place relevant to the items under appraisal, so says USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice).  In most situations the scope of work– the purpose and intended use of the appraisal – will be an important element in deciding the appropriate market place for the items under consideration. If you are preparing an appraisal of the fair market value of items for estate purposes, is the appropriate market place for the item(s) different from that you might use if the appraisal is for insurance purposes? I think it often is, although there might be some situations where the two values intersect.

Watching the Antiques Road Show it is easy to hear specialists from around the country give value opinions that don’t take into account the differences in regional markets. The question of appropriate marketplace, as it relates to location of the objects in a specific appraisal assignment is very important. Some things sell much better in certain markets. For example, fancy china figurines typically sell better (and for a lot more money) in Miami, Florida than in San Diego County. English 19th century flow blue china sells much better in the mid-west than here. If the item is significantly valuable, it might make good appraisal sense to consider the costs and problems in getting the item to a better appropriate market, and consider using that better value on the appraisal. Certainly we do that with important paintings. Time is another issue that can cloud the appropriate market issue. What if you decide the appropriate market is far away from the location of the property, or you are imagining a big city auction sale which may be months down the road? Some appraisal value definitions have a time factor, and some don’t. For example, the IRS estate definition of Fair Market Value does not have a clause about reasonable amount of time for the transaction to take place. (Treasury Regulation Sec. 20.2031.-1[b])

What I learned at the 7 hour update USPAP class is that I need to be far more aware of various appraisal value definitions than I currently am. It doesn’t help that the different appraisal organizations have their own versions of these definitions. Or that various State & Federal courts have different wordings based on precedent rulings. There are new USPAP changes that make appropriate marketplace and highest and best use (from the Real Estate world) sort of synonymous. At the moment all I can do is make certain I explain the marketplace I am using, but it would be most helpful if the various stakeholders could get together and agree on some definitions.

Don’t miss out on all the fun – get yourself to a San Diego ASA meeting where all these vital issues can be dissected!

Georgie Stillman, ASA

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Newsletter Editor - Georgie Stillman, ASA

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