Get a Certified Heavy Equipment Appraisal Report
Desktop appraisals and valuations nationwide, on-site by quote. Starting at $295. Same day quotes. Every time.
(844) 825-8283
Get a quote(844) 825-8283
Get a quoteDesktop appraisals and valuations nationwide, on-site by quote. Starting at $295. Same day quotes. Every time.
Equipment appraisals go to a lender, a court, the IRS, an insurer or a buyer, and each reader looks for different answers. These are the appraiser’s own, by the kind of file you have. Correct anything that differs on yours.
Your bank asked for an appraisal before the loan closes, or you are the lender ordering it.
Sample bank file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
A desktop appraisal carries most lender files. Some SBA programs require an inspection, and your lender’s SBA group will say which. SBA would not accept a desktop on your file? On a 104-unit fleet, I delivered the on-site report within a week of engagement.
What to send
Send the depreciation schedule, the insurance schedule, or a list with make, model and year.
My reports have been accepted since 2009 by banks, insurance carriers, the IRS and the courts.
Start your quote with the loan set as the purpose.One spouse’s business owns the equipment, the other needs to know what it is worth, and a court date is coming. I have handled that file.
Sample divorce file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
When the other side will read the report, an inspection documents each machine’s condition first-hand. I note any condition one party reports and the other disputes as reported but unverified. I inspect the equipment, write the report and stand behind the number.
What to send
Send whatever inventory exists: an equipment list, a depreciation schedule, or an asset list from the case.
Someone has died, the equipment has to be valued, and you may not know what half of it is. You do not need to gather anything else before writing.
Sample estate file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
If you do not know what the machines are, photos of each machine’s four corners, its meter and its serial plate identify them, and a desktop appraisal from those photos fits most estates. Photos are not required, but they make a stronger report.
What to send
Send the depreciation schedule or a list, and the photos you have.
My reports have been accepted since 2009 by banks, insurance carriers, the IRS and the courts.
Start your quote with estate set as the purpose. Your attorney can confirm any of the four.You are donating a machine and your CPA wants a qualified appraisal for Form 8283. The regulation behind that form sets most of the answers.
Sample donation file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
A desktop appraisal for a donation states what was relied on in place of a physical inspection. The report carries what the regulation asks for: the contribution date, the appraiser’s declaration and qualifications, and the statement that it was prepared for federal income tax purposes.
What to send
Send the make, model, year and hours, photos of the machine and its serial plate, the name of the organization receiving it, and the date of the gift.
Either your carrier wants a value before it writes the policy, or there has been a loss and a number is in dispute. They are two different reports.
Sample insurance file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
A desktop appraisal from photos and records carries most insurance files. When the carrier will dispute the number, condition before and after the loss has to be documented.
What to send
Send the policy or claim schedule and the photos you have.
My reports have been accepted since 2009 by banks, insurance carriers, the IRS and the courts.
Start your quote with insurance set as the purpose.You are buying a machine, selling one, buying out a partner, or selling the company and its yard.
Sample purchase file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
A desktop appraisal from photos fits most purchases. A whole company across several sites usually requires an inspection.
What to send
Send the list, with anything rented or already sold marked so it stays out of the report.
The fee never depends on the value, and no assignment is accepted to reach a number.
Plenty of people who write to me are not sure they need an appraisal. It comes down to who will rely on the number.
If the answer is nobody but you, and you want to know what a machine is worth before you sell it or buy one, start with the value guides on this site.
If a bank, a court, the IRS, an insurer, a buyer or a partner is behind the request, you are in the right place.
Sample owner file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Desktop or on-site
One machine with photos is a desktop appraisal. Send the make, model and year, plus six photos: all four corners, the hour meter and the serial plate.
You are in Ohio, or Texas, or Florida, and you want someone near you.
Sample desktop file
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
There is one appraiser, and the file comes to me by email from anywhere in the United States. The engagement letter asks the same four questions wherever the equipment sits: who the client is (usually whoever orders the report), which value (usually fair market value), the as-of date (usually the current date) and who relies on the report (by name). Tell me where any of them differ.
Desktop or on-site
A desktop appraisal is built from photographs, serial plates, meter readings and records, and the report states plainly that the equipment was not inspected in person. Where a lender, court or carrier requires an inspection, I quote the on-site appraisal from your list.
What to send
Send the list or the depreciation schedule, and say where the equipment is and whether it is all in one place.
My reports have been accepted since 2009 by banks, insurance carriers, the IRS and the courts. Desktop appraisals nationwide, on-site by quote.
Start your quote. The form asks where the equipment is.
Total fair market value$250,000
Appraiser’s Certificate
Abridged sample. Fictitious parties.
Every valuation report ends with the appraiser’s certificate: the value, that the fee did not depend on it, the standard it was prepared to, and whether the machinery was inspected in person.
Single machine appraisals and valuations, done from photos and records, start at $295.
Fleet appraisals and on-site work are quoted from your list as one fixed fee, most between $2,500 and $15,000.
For a single machine, the standard report takes 7 to 10 business days, with 3 to 5 business day and 24 to 48 hour options.
A desktop appraisal works from your photos, serial plates, meter readings and records. An on-site appraisal adds an inspection of the machinery in person. Not sure which one your file calls for? Read how the two differ, or choose “not sure” in the form.
Single machines to 400+ fleets. Equipment appraisals of a mixed fleet put each machine on its own line, so construction equipment, farm machinery and trucks are valued unit by unit.
Every equipment typeHeavy equipment only: no aircraft, no livestock.
Rhett Crites, CMEA, CAGA
Rhett and his team handle the research, the inspection and the report, and Rhett has worked as a heavy equipment appraiser since 2009.
The fee is fixed before work starts and never depends on the value of equipment; USPAP bars appraisers from any fee that does. No engagement is taken on the condition of reaching a number.
A file that requires an inspection does not get a desktop report.
The NEBB Institute and CAGA certify appraisers and keep both listings public, so a lender, attorney or CPA can check the credentials before ordering appraisal services.
Say so in the form: damaged, repaired, a branded title (marked salvage or rebuilt), or no photos yet. The report states the condition it relied on, and a desktop report says plainly that the machinery was not inspected in person.
Fair market value is the valuation most files use. Lenders often add orderly liquidation value, what the machinery would bring in a managed sale, and a forced sale calls for forced liquidation value, what it would bring in a rushed one. Whoever asked for the report usually names one. If nobody has, the quote recommends one.
A report can state value as of an earlier date, such as a date of death or a date of loss. Put that date in the form where you describe the machinery.
Pick the date in the form. It shows which delivery tier meets that date, and the engagement letter states the day the report arrives.
A list with make, model, year and hours or miles, or the fixed asset, depreciation or insurance schedule your business already keeps. For desktop appraisals, add photos of each machine’s four corners, its hour meter and its serial plate.
Construction, farming, oil and gas, trucking and material handling: the industries that run the heavy machinery listed above. The reports are ordered by business owners, lenders, attorneys, CPAs and insurers.
No. The work is heavy equipment and machinery valuation: construction equipment, farm equipment, trucks, cranes, forklifts and oilfield machinery. Other business assets, such as buildings, inventory or goodwill, go to appraisers in those fields.
Yes. For a sale of the business or a partner buyout, the report gives an equipment valuation for each machine, as of the date the deal calls for. The business owners involved can order it, and a lender financing the purchase may rely on it.
Ask them what they need and put it in the form. The report states the client, the value and its definition, the as-of date, the intended users, how each machine was identified, and the appraiser’s certificate under USPAP. Those are the parts a reviewer checks in equipment appraisals.
Put your question in the form, whether it is about the fee, the date or which of the two appraisal services fits your file. The team answers it in writing with the quote, which comes by email the same day.
More questions and answersNot ready for a quote? Read the heavy equipment appraisal guide
Four answers start a quote for equipment appraisal services, desktop or on-site: who you are, the machine, who will rely on the report, and the date. The quote comes by email the same day.