Is there one national appraisal firm that is better than everyone else? And why?
Out of the national valuation firms, is there one that is the best in terms of tech, compensation, and admin support? Has anyone worked for multiple of these companies (CBRE, CW, Colliers, JLL) and care to share sort of pros and cons to any of them? I’m trying to weigh offers but need more information.
[{"id": "hzsx8o9", "text": "Valbridge, way smarter than all the above listed. Usually were top boutiques in respected cities that all banded together for a national database. Much cleaner data in their database which can\u2019t be accessed by anyone else.", "replies": [{"id": "hzw7zdm", "text": "Just like everything else in real estate, it varies market by market. There are some top notch Valbridge offices, and some that I can\u2019t believe they stay in business. Same goes for the valuation arms of all of the big firms as well, so I don\u2019t know that I agree with the comment that they\u2019re \u201cway smarter than all the above\u201d, regardless of which firm you were talking about.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hzts8go", "text": "I work for one of the firms you mentioned OP. I don\u2019t know that I believe one is truly better than another, on a market to market basis it is going to depend (CBRE may dominate market X but C&amp;W dominates market Y, etc.). My unofficial survey is CBRE, Newmark, and C&amp;W (I think in that order in terms of size from biggest to smallest) have the largest national footprint so they can do the largest portfolio work but the quality will change by market for all of them. Anyone who tells you differently is not telling the truth. \n\nColliers is, in my market at least, more of a boutique appraisal firm that concentrates on apartments and a few smaller groups of properties and doesn\u2019t do a ton of the other big types (IND, OFF, RET). It\u2019s my understanding that is typical for many (maybe not all) colliers offices in the country. \n\nJLL is growing but is much smaller than all of the rest of the ones mentioned on a national scale. Probably pluses and minuses to their current size if we are being honest. \n\nSorry I know that\u2019s not the answer you wanted but hopefully some of that info is helpful from where I am sitting and see the landscape.", "replies": [{"id": "hzw887v", "text": "Having worked at 2 of the 4 mentioned, I agree with Eddie\u2019s comments. There\u2019s markets that each of those firms is the best, and markets where maybe a IRR office is the best, or even someone more local. As much as the national platform matters on multi market deals, the quality of each office varies.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]