Mark Secrest Appraisals 202.718.2521
American Society of Appraisers
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Mark Secrest Appraisals 202.718.2521
American Society of Appraisers
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About Mark
Mark is an Honours graduate of the Study Centre for the History of the Fine and Decorative Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, London England.
This academic foundation built a career which spans 48 years of providing reliable and credible appraisals of English, French, Continental and American art, works of art, antique furniture, silver, porcelains, Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities and all manner of residential contents.
Mark's main clientele is and remains the public at large.
Mark was privileged to serve the Reagan White House & Obama White House Administrations. And was appointed by Mayor Fenty to the Board of Appraisers of the DC Licensing and Regulatory Commission. Others, past & present, are foreign and domestic dignitaries as well as members of the diplomatic corps.
Mark has and continues to act as an intermediary for clients who lend, exhibit or make charitable contributions of artworks to the Phillips Collection, Smithsonian Institute, Freer Gallery of Art, Austin City Museum of Modern Art as well as state, regional and private museums across the United States.
He is an acknowledged expert in Circuit Court, District Court, Federal Court, Tax Court, Bankruptcy Court and his lower courts testimony admitted in United State Courts of Appeal.
Valuation Services
Mark offers a broad range of appraisal services from fair market value, replacement cost, insurance, probate, family division, non-cash charitable donation and consultations regarding conservation and restoration.
(the best bit)
Beyond identification and value everyone has a purpose, whether it is to sell, donate, equably divide or give away. Most are at a loss as how best to do so. One example is those who inherit an estate and suddenly finds themselves owners of the entire contents of another home and are overwhelmed by the task of sorting it out. This requires knowledge of all the resources at one's disposal. Not to worry, Mark has decades of experience of assisting with every aspect, from appraisals to selling.
(and more)
Mark's experience and expertise extends to conservation and restoration techniques and knows what has and has not and what should and should not be done to art and antiques. This too is reflected in the Condition part of an appraisal report.
Valuation Services, cont.
(forthright)
The hourly fee for Valuation Services includes an initial consultation, examination of artworks, antiques and residential contents, a formal written appraisal report, relevant sales data analysis, travel time and all subsequent consultations, without limit to number or time constraints until your purposes of the appraisal are met. There are no additional fees or add on.
Mark is fee based and neither asks for nor accepts commissions, compensations or gratuities other than the hourly rate.
Please specify your purpose of an appraisal (intended use) i.e., fair market value, insurance, presale, etcetera.
Items, estates or collections may be examined at your residence or other location(s.) The hourly fee is $225 and each additional hour or incremental quarter hour.
Should circumstances permit, examinations may be conducted virtually or when possible by detailed photographs, The same rate applies.
Arrangement may be made for portable items, limit of five, to be examined in office, for a flat fee of $200.
Mark always offers a good faith estimate of the time required for an examination of items, estates or collections.
NOTE: While Mark cannot foretell a particular sales forums audience (number of buyers) a main concern is to consistently consult with and furnish clients with the best, most reliable sales platforms or other means of divestment.
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What You need to Know
Little known facts to most potential clients are (that) art and antiques appraisers are not required to be licensed. Nor are there official Certified, Accredited or other titled designations of an appraiser by a state or federal agency. Along with this, there is no minimal standard nor professional conduct or code of ethics.
(of overriding importance)
Those, Mark included, who hold themselves out as expert appraisers are engaged in an unregulated profession. This should be a concern at the forefront for anyone considering the services of art and antiques appraisers.
So how do you discern who is an expert appraiser? Left to your own devices, do as you would with any service-oriented business be it an electrician, contractor, physician or accountant.
To this point, there are a number of safeguards, a good start are business reviews, trustworthy referrals and the Better Business Bureau, Search of members and non-members alike. It is always best to speak directly to a potential appraiser and ask the specifics of who, what, when and where of their higher academics in the field of art and antiques and their professional career experience.
Business is business, and do not be hesitant to request a resume and a sample appraisal report. A professional appraiser should not be offended, resistant or reluctant to provide both.
Mark encourages everyone to interview and consult a number of appraisers until you are reasonably confident and comfortable that an appraiser is a competent expert.
Be Forwarned
Pitfalls for laypersons are appraisers who may have a contemplated future interest, by way of commissions or other compensations, in an object(s) which is the subject of an appraisal assignment. Mainly, this applies to art galleries, antiques shops, auction houses, individuals and related entities, who are, simultaneously engaged in sales and appraisal services.
The simple reason being is the possibility of bias on the part of the appraiser, as there exists a possibility of anticipated future financial gain above and beyond their initial appraisal fee. The duality of seller and appraiser is made manifest when acting as an appraiser who has given an opinion of value pivots and becomes the seller and buys, accepts an offer to buy or take on consignment an object(s) at a price equal to or near their previously rendered value. Needless to say, this may be the epitome of questionable conduct.
After you have employed an appraiser, and they are conducting their examination keep in mind that you are the client, and your role is to ask the pertinent questions and not the appraiser. A sure sign of an appraiser's unfamiliarity or ineptitude with the objects is when they ask questions, aka “a fishing expedition” like, "How old do you think it is? What do you think it's worth?" and the all-encompassing question, what do you know about the piece?
Then there is the unmistakable lack of experience coupled with little to no academics as evidenced by an appraiser being privy to the highest price paid for an artist's work and appraises the artwork, without consideration of its artistic merit, but within the same value range.
An accomplished appraiser examining a work takes into account a number of deciding factors of artistic merit, composition, palette, condition and other value determinants and seldom, if ever, has one sale established a consistent value trend in the marketplace. This is applicable to any art, decorative arts and objects of the antique be the artist or maker known or unknown.
And an appraiser's report must be entirely objective, never subjective. Superlatives such as, extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, exceptional and the like are the domain of a seller and not a professional appraiser. Moreover, words such as bric-a-brac, vintage, nick-nacks, and other colloquial descriptions are the domain of a dilettante, not a trained expert.
The Appraisal Process
The fundamentals of an appraisal is that it may be physically conducted in several ways, an appraiser comes to a residence or place where items to be appraised are located, items which may be safely transported may be brought to an appraiser and when circumstances permit, and it is practical object may be examined virtually or by detailed photographs.
Appraisals are narrative and should contain a number of heading and herein are several key components, sequentially they are, Scope, defines the aspects of the report, Condition, past conservation, restoration, repairs and alterations that affect an item's marketability, hence, value. Valuation Methodology, identified sales data sources and how the appraiser arrived at the opinion of value, The Report itself, a detailed descriptive inventory with individual final values estimates of each item. A Signature, the signing appraiser(s) accepts full responsibility for content, opinions, conclusions and final opinion of value.
The appraisal report should demonstrate three main elements, Credibility, the report itself,
Competency, report writing criteria and a Code of Ethics, an acknowledgement by the appraiser
and for the client's benefit.
Of utmost importance is that an appraiser must bring the reader of their appraisal report to the same conclusions and final opinion of value as themselves.
Contact Mark
Mark serves the Washington Metropolitan Area and is pleased to offer sensible fee quotes for outside the metropolitan area.
Mark may be reached Monday thru Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm EST, Saturday with reduced hours 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and 1:00 to 4:00 pm Sundays. Closed most holidays.
for questions or immediate assistance please telephone
202.718.2521
or
by post
mark secrest appraisals
2500 wisconsin avenue NW
suite 237
washington, dc
20007
Mark Secrest Appraisals looks forward to being of assistance to everyone who pleases to engage his valuation services.
by appointment
