Clientele

LENDERS:

A large portion of our clientele base includes lenders.  Within this group of clients we are referring to any institution that extends funds at interest and can include any entity defined as a community, regional or national bank, mutual savings bank, a life insurance company, a pension or other trust fund, a commercial bank, or a credit union.  A lender will require an appraisal on a specific property because they are often attempting to quantify how much it is willing to lend based on its appraisal of the property’s value – or whether it will give a mortgage at all depending upon the information obtained via the appraisal.  A significant element of the risk aversion decision making process a lender will rely upon is the appraisal.  Other than a local lending institution many lenders are physically located distantly from the collateral they are being asked to loan on.  As a result the appraiser is the on the ground party who the lender must rely on to be their eyes and ears concerning the real property being considered as collateral.

Not only does a lender need an appraisal of a property to establish an opinion of market value, but as in any due diligence process must occasionally seek other services which an appraiser should be able to competently provide.  These additional services may include a review of appraisals for compliance audits, REO services when the lender may have to take back collateral which it has lent money on, construction status inspections, or a host of other needs.  In today’s environment a lender needs an appraiser who they can trust.  At no time in the recent past has the real estate market been so volatile and lenders must be able to call upon professionals which understand the micro nuances prevalent in each local market as well as the national macro environment in which these all intermingle.  As the real estate crisis continues to unfold and the ship begins to right itself participants along the entire transaction process are going to continually demand quality valuation products.  We have been in the local real estate valuation trenches for nearly two decades.  The next time you need a quality driven valuation product you can confidently call upon us for those needs.

PROFESSIONALS:

Over the years we have provided valuation services to a wide array of professionals who require a trusted source for their appraisal needs.  We have extensively served attorneys, accountants, financial managers, insurance companies, trust administrators and a host of other professionals.   We regularly provide valuation services to attorneys for equitable distribution matters, legal situations affecting real estate value, eminent domain, and estate matters.  Insurance companies frequently require real estate appraisals when settling loss claims and accountants require real estate valuations for estate settlement purposes as well as establishing a value basis for assets in the course of estate planning for their client’s future needs.

Sometimes it is necessary to provide testimony in a court of law or for deposition purposes when needed by our professional clients.  We have provided such services in support of our appraisals multiple times having been admitted as expert witnesses within both state and federal courts.  Our firm provides market value appraisals as well as appraisals that consider different definitions of value as required by some users of our products.  While the typical layperson’s perception is that all value is market value, in reality there is an unlimited number of definitions of value.  Depending upon the situation these various types of value can range from market value to liquidation value to insurable value or any number of other values which are technically different.  We at GACS have the understanding to recognize the various types of commonly needed values and the ability to produce credible opinions based on those different definitions.

GOVERNMENT:

Our firm has served public entities including local municipalities, counties, state and federal agencies, and quasi-government entities.  We have provided valuation services to the public sector for acquisition needs, condemnation actions, rent studies, facilitation of transactions relating to Native American lands held in trust by the federal government, and to assist in a wide variety of other situations.  We provide appraisals compliant with USPAP, the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions (also known as the Yellow Book), as well as supplemental standards which many public entities require.  As with other clientele we have the ability to provide litigation support for your valuation needs including experience as an admitted expert witness concerning these types of matters.

INDIVIDUALS:

An important facet of our business is the providing of real estate valuations to individuals.  Our services to individuals include appraisals for market value when they are seeking information in the course of potentially marketing a property, providing valuation services to be used in the process of dividing property for estate purposes between the heirs, estate planning, equity distribution, and private money lending purposes.

When confronted with any situation requiring competent valuation services in the far Western North Carolina region consider General Appraising & Consulting Services, Inc. as your local source.  With our many years of experience in these markets you can feel confident you are receiving quality opinions and information concerning the real estate markets.