There are many reasons why you may require a real estate appraisal. Brunsdon Lawrek & Associates is experienced in providing appraisal and consulting options in support of the following:

• Mortgage financing and refinancing
• Matrimonial settlement
• Litigation support and expert testimony
• Estate Planning
• Acquisition/disposal of a real estate asset
• Portfolio analysis
• Corporation planning
• Easement/expropriation
• Foreclosure/receivership
• Capital gains and financial planning
• Relocation
• Market rent/lease arbitration
• Insurance replacement

• Agricultural
• Commercial
  • Office
  • Retail
  • Mixed-use
  • Hotels/motels
  • Mobile home
  • Parks/RV parks
• Industrial
• Multi-family
• Condominiums
• Institutional
• Land
• Care homes
• Recreational property
• Residential
  • Single family
  • Duplex/triplex/fourplex
  • Condominium
• Leased property
• Special use
• “As if complete” appraisals
• Progress reports on construction projects
• Retrospective, prospective and current appraisals
• Consulting – Market reports, highest and best use reports reports, feasibility studies

Local Experience

At Brunsdon Lawrek & Associates, we have experience in a broad spectrum of commercial, institutional, industrial, agriculture, land, multi-residential, and residential properties among others. Chances are, if it’s in Saskatchewan, we’ve done it.

Local knowledge is an essential element in providing respectable valuations and advice. Our experienced team takes pride in producing reliable reports that are trusted by market participants. With more than 100 years of experience in Saskatchewan, we strive to ensure we understand our client’s goals and requirements and meet those goals on time. We are committed to serving the needs of various local, national, and international business and investment owners; and various groups within municipal, provincial, and federal government organizations. Our team members are also approved by national financial lending institutions, and regional and local Credit Unions.

Professional Responsibility

Did you know that there are no guidelines in Canada as to who can call themselves an appraiser? It is important that you are hiring the right appraiser, or it could cost you money with your real estate asset. All the real estate appraisers at Brunsdon Lawrek and Associates are designated through the Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC). To achieve an AIC designation, one must have a degree, go through an extensive university accredited education program, complete an applied experience program, write a comprehensive final exam, and complete a professional competency interview.

Brunsdon Lawrek and Associates is committed to offering excellent customer service and professional appraisal services that ensure high quality reports. As accredited professionals through the Appraisal Institute of Canada, we are strongly committed to providing our clients with unbiased and objective opinions of value and advice.

Did you know that there are two types of appraisers that you can hire – one that specializes in residential properties and one that specializes in all other asset classes (typically referred to as the commercial appraiser).

Appraisers at Brunsdon Lawrek and Associates hold one of two different designations. Designated members may have a P.App., CRA designation or a P.App., AACI designation. The P.App., CRA designated individual can only appraise residential type properties that do not contain more than four housing units. The P.App., AACI designated individual can appraise all real estate asset groups provided they have competency and experience with that particular asset class.

Sometimes an individual will call looking for an appraisal on 160 acres of land with a residential yard site. Because the yard site is developed with a residential house, the individual thinks that a residential appraiser can complete this assignment. Properties on 160 acres have agricultural characteristics and must be analyzed on those features. This type of analysis requires a P.App., AACI designated appraiser.

Another example is when a residential property is developed on a commercially zoned site. This also requires a P.App., AACI appraiser to analyze the value.

It is important to hire the right designated appraiser that is competent in the asset class you need appraised so that you can make the right informed real estate decisions.

Hiring the wrong appraiser can cost you more than just the appraisal fee. Here are some questions to ask before hiring your professional appraiser:

What professional designation do you have?

You want to make sure the appraiser holds a designation by the Appraisal Institute of Canada and that it is the correct designation to complete the assignment. You don’t want to hire a residential appraiser to do a commercial job!

What experience do you have with the particular property type I need appraised?

You will want to make sure that person has the relevant experience and knowledge.

What experience do you have appraising properties in my area?

You want to make sure you hire an appraiser that understands your industry and has knowledge about your local area. Sometimes appraisers will come from other provinces to complete an appraisal in Saskatchewan. This practice is acceptable provided that the appraiser has local knowledge and access to local data. This is a key component to value so ensure that the appraiser you hire has the right experience, knowledge, and contacts.

Are you an approved appraiser with the bank I am using?

You don’t want to spend money on an appraisal to find out that your lender will not accept the report because the appraiser is not on the approved list.

Don’t be afraid to ask for references.

Brunsdon Lawrek and Associates appraisals are completed according to the Canadian Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (CUSPAP). To properly complete an appraisal, an inspection of the property must be conducted. In some instances, this cannot be possible but this would be only in exceptional circumstances.

Form reports are typically used for residential appraisals and agricultural/commercial/industrial/multi-family property appraisals are usually completed in a narrative format. The reports include a detailed analysis of the subject property including facts relating to physical, legal, and economic characteristics. A highest and best use analysis addresses the most reasonable, probable and legal uses of the property. A final reconciliation of value is then derived from the application of one or more of the approaches to value, which include the direct comparison approach, the income approach, and/or the cost approach. The final value conclusion is reconciled into either a range or a single number depending on the specific requirements of the assignment.

Before starting an appraisal, Brunsdon and Lawrek requires the following information for most assignments:

• Signed copy of the quote with instructions to proceed
• Contact person and number to set up the inspection
• Copy of current tax notice, legal description and civic address
• Copy of surveyor certificate(s), if available
• List of any outstanding fire, health orders or warrants, if available
• List and cost of major repairs or equipment replacement and supplies, etc. over the last 3 years
• Copies of any condition reports, i.e. roof, mechanical, etc., if available
• Income and expense statements for the property from the past three years
• Copies of any leases or intent to lease
• Plans and specifications on the property, if available
• Construction budgets, if applicable
• Sales history over the past three years

If the cost to construct is $1,000,000 (for example), will the appraised value be $1,000,000?

Not necessarily. While the cost of construction is one of the factors considered by the appraiser, the valuation process relies on data from the market which may or may not support the cost to construct. If your property is built in a location where typical properties sell for a much lower or higher value, the value conclusion may be lower or higher than the cost to build.

Do I get a copy of the appraisal report as I am paying for it? 

This is often asked when a real estate appraisal is for financing purposes.

If the report is ordered by an appraisal management company on behalf of a lender, the report belongs to the lender and they may choose to share or not to share the report with you, even though you paid for it. In this case the appraisal management company and the lender are Brunsdon Lawrek and Associates clients and we cannot share a copy of the report with you or anyone else without written permission from the lender.

If you ordered the report, paid for it and you are named as the client, it is your report. It is important to note that lenders may want to be named as the client and authorized user in a report. We usually recommend that if you want a copy of the report and maintain control of the report that you order the appraisal and be named as the client with the lender named as an authorized user of the report. We may have to issue a letter of reliance to the lender, but you remain as the client in that case and the lender can rely on the report.