Support services we've provided for our attorney clients in the past include,
but are not limited to:
Forensic Appraising - How
can you be in the television age of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation without
working the word "forensic" into the conversation? Forensics apply to the
appraisal industry, too. There is a host of background information about any
farm available at courthouses, county engineer's offices, USDA offices and on
the World Wide Web, but you need to know where to find it and how to use it.
Did you know that the Mitchell County Engineer's Office has an aerial photo of
the entire county as of 1976 that shows where nearly all of the drainage tile
lines were at that time? We do. If you don't know when a building was built, we
can probably guess it within 10 years. Did you know that Harvestore silos first
started installing white roof caps instead of blue in 1967? We do.
Chattel Appraising - Many
times it is also important to have an inventory of not only the buildings and
land, but also of the stored grain, livestock and livestock feed. If you need
the machinery and rolling stock appraised, we can refer you to well-qualified
folks who specialize in the area.
Expert Testimony Regarding Economic Damages
- Fred Greder, the principal appraiser, has had the opportunity to testify
several times in lawsuits where livestock confinement sites have been accused
of causing a reduction of value to rural residential acreages that surround the
facility. Greder has developed a list of at least ten different factors that
would have a bearing on whether proximity to a livestock facility would cause
the value of the neighboring property to go down. Some of the factors aren't as
readily apparent as you might think. We also have experience in determining
what, if any, impacts are caused by other types of development or usage on
neighboring properties.
IRS Code Section 2032A - "Special Use Valuations"
- Since December 31, 1976, estate representatives of those who have died have
been permitted to elect on the federal estate tax return to value eligible real
property devoted to farming or other closely-held business use at its special
use or "use" value rather than fair market value. The most important ingredient
involved in the "special use valuation" process is gathering cropland cash rent
information. We are fortunate to have developed an extensive network of
contacts with landlords, professional farm managers and attorneys providing us
insight into the current cash rent situation throughout the region.
Retrospective Appraisals -
Two or three times a year we get a call wondering whether we can tell somebody
what a farm was worth 5, 10, 15 or more years ago. A divorce settlement may
hinge on the value of the farm at the time of the marriage, or Aunt Gertrude's
10-year-old estate still hasn't been settled. No problem. We have sales
databases going back nearly 25 years and farmland market surveys going back 35
years. All that practice at estimating the original age of houses and
outbuildings comes in very handy for these retrospective appraisals, too.
Fractional & Minority Interest Discounts
- A fractional interest in a farm probably won't be worth as much per acre as
the whole farm for several reasons. Those reasons include longer marketing
times, partitioning costs, drainage issues and reduced field efficiency. The
size of the discount depends on several factors. We've never had one of our
fractional interest discounts questioned by the Internal Revenue Service.
Partitioning Consulting -
This is a growing part of the appraisal practice. Not every member of the "baby
boom generation" has the same goals for the farm they inherited from the
"greatest generation". Sometimes the only way to satisfy everybody is to split
the farm. That is not as simple as it sounds. The sum of the parts might not be
equal to the total. We can help minimize the reduction in value. Sometimes
splitting the farm sounds like the expedient thing to do but, it might not be
the effective thing to do. We can help sort out the difference.
Alternative Valuation Dates for Estates
- Each estate has the option to elect to value the farmland at an "alternative
valuation date". The "alternative valuation date" is six months after the
original date of death. Usually, the fee to develop the alternative valuation
is much less than the original fee because of the head start.
Private Auction Consultation
- Private auctions conducted by attorneys - also called sealed bid auctions -
have become particularly popular since the bio-fuels industry ignited the land
markets in 2006. The title of the company newsletter of November 2005 was "The
Do's & Don'ts of Sealed Bid Auctions". Check it out. (That newsletter is
archived along with all of the other Benchmark company newsletters on the
Newsletter page of this website.) We are available to help walk you and your
clients through the process, starting with the very important decision of
whether the private auction is the appropriate way to go. Not every farm should
be sold by auction. Greder has attended several private auctions (even
submitted a bid or two) and has become familiar with the dynamics of the
auction.
Even if you don't see your specific rural real estate need outlined above,
Benchmark Agribusiness may be able to help
your law firm serve its farm-owning clients more effectively and completely.
Call us at 641-424-6983 to find out.
