When you need an out-of-town appraiser for a ‘raw land’ property

Question: Hi Pat: You do not know me; I only chatted with you briefly after you filmed an episode of your channel. 

I have two questions. I would appreciate any guidance you can give. If you do not know, you do not know. That is fine. 

1) What is a typical price for a property appraisal? The property is on the border of Vista, California, in the hills of San Diego County, and is “raw land,” not land with a structure. I assume there are few comps. 

2) Can you recommend a forum where I could ask someone to give me an appraisal letter for this land? 

The land is held under my IRA; I am retired and required to take money out of the IRA each year, so the account trustee requires an annual appraisal letter to notify the IRS of the asset’s value. I know you do not do appraisals, but you know some places I could ask. I tried some of my social media groups but am still awaiting responses. Any thoughts?

Answer: Ignore social media groups. Seek out the professionals directly.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is the best source. NAR sponsors specialized training. For example, if I were you, I would call one of the Accredited Land Consultants (ALC) in Southern California. A Realtor with an ALC designation will be a wealth of knowledge. Plus, they will know preferred appraisers for land.

You want a Realtor who invests time and money on specialty training.

This is the NAR link.

See the certification requirements of an accredited land consultant in Southern California:

The ALC designation requires a total of 104 course hours through the Realtors Land Institute’s LAND University (LANDU) program.

Three required courses (56 hours).

LAND 101 features:

Fundamentals of Land Brokerage (16 hours)
Land Investment Analysis (24 hours)
Transitional Land Real Estate (16 hours)
Electives adding up to 48 course hours

NAR also has 18 other professional designations listed in that search panel. In my case, I have traveled from San Diego to New Jersey for Realtor certification training. The course work taught is superb. The instructors are peerless.

Consumers can seek out and interview these NAR specialists. It is worth the effort. Conversely, one of the professional services I provide is finding, interviewing and recommending the right Realtor designated specialist(s) for you.

For Housing Market Data in your area, visit my webpage for trends here. Do you have questions about home buying or selling? Full-service Realtor Pat Kapowich is a Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager, Certified Trust and Probate Specialist and career-long consumer protection advocate. He is based in his hometown of Sunnyvale, California. Office: 408-245-7700; Broker# 00979413 [email protected]

Pat Kapowich
[email protected]