Tips for Evaluating Your Upcoming Appraisal Pilot Project
by Justin Deem, Vice President of Appraisal Operations Embarking on a pilot appraisal project is a significant endeavor — one that demands meticulous planning, precise execution, and effective communication. This small starter project becomes such a big deal because your full appraisal will be based on the methods of data collection and the processes finalized […]
Replacement Costs vs Reproduction Costs for Appraising Historic Property
by Gary Tate, Property Appraisal Quality Manager When you’re insuring a historic property, you’re likely to face questions you wouldn’t encounter with more modern buildings. One of the biggest of these is whether you insure the building for replacement costs or reproduction costs. But before we dive into that, first let’s talk about what constitutes […]
Earthquake Risks: How Architectural Features Affect Seismic Resistance
The age-old saying, “The bigger they are the harder they fall” is believed to have originally come from boxing. But for those of us in property risk management, it’s also a fair description of how buildings of certain structural types can react to seismic events. In fact, there are a lot of architectural and logistical […]
What’s in a Replacement Cost Value? (And What’s Not!)
by Sandra Hou, Valuation Consultant In the insurance industry, replacement cost value (often referred to simply as “replacement cost”) is one of the most common and acceptable values used to insure properties. In my line of work, we are often hired by risk pools to value their members’ properties for replacement values, in order to make […]
Windstorm Mitigation: How Architectural Features Affect Storm Resistance
In the past, we’ve discussed how architectural details affect earthquake resistance, and how documenting those details for your insurance Statement of Values (SOV) can help you secure the right insurance coverage at the best rates. So today, we’ll talk about the other common way your building can be affected by risk — windstorm. Like the seismic […]
Three Tips for Selecting an Insurance Appraisal Services Partner
Selecting a property insurance appraisal services partner is not like buying a pack of gum. It is not simply a single transaction but rather the start of long-term relationship with your vendor, one in which you will be opening up your buildings to them. Below are a few things we think you should consider before deciding […]
How a Building Value Estimator Tool Can Help Trend Property Values Remotely
In an ideal, magical land of property risk management, budgets would be limitless and there would be full, thorough, onsite physical inspections of every property in the insurance portfolio, anytime it was needed. Every necessary detail would be expertly verified and documented down to the last roof fastener. And 100% of your total replacement values […]