A standard commercial appraisal assigns one value to a property as it currently exists. One property, one value conclusion, one report. That's the baseline.
For that $2,100, you get a Certified General Appraiser conducting a live, on-site inspection — not a desktop estimate, not an automated valuation model, not a file review. An actual licensed appraiser walks the property, photographs it, measures it, and prepares a USPAP-compliant report that will hold up in a loan review, a court proceeding, or an IRS audit.
That flat fee covers most standard commercial assignments: small office buildings, retail storefronts, industrial bays, mixed-use properties, light industrial. If the property is straightforward and you need one value conclusion, $2,100 is your number.
Three things move the fee above the baseline. Every appraisal engagement that costs more falls into at least one of these categories.
A standard commercial appraisal takes two to three weeks from engagement to delivery. That's not slow — it reflects actual research time: pulling comparable sales, verifying data, analyzing market conditions, and writing a defensible report.
If you need it faster, that's possible, but it costs more. Rush work means compressed timelines, which means the appraiser rearranges existing workload and often puts in extended hours to deliver. That carries a premium, and it should.
If you're working toward a closing deadline, give us the date up front. We'll tell you whether the timeline is achievable and what it costs.
Not all commercial properties are equal. A 2,500-square-foot retail strip is a different assignment from a 40,000-square-foot mixed-use building with below-market leases, deferred maintenance, and an ownership dispute.
Complexity is driven by a few factors:
When we review an assignment and see a complex property, the fee reflects that. We don't pad fees; we price them accurately.
This is the one most people don't anticipate until they're already mid-transaction.
A single value conclusion — as-is — is the baseline. But many situations require more than one:
Each additional value conclusion adds analytical work and report complexity. A report requiring three value conclusions takes materially longer to prepare than one requiring one. The fee reflects that.
When you hire a commercial appraiser, you're buying a defensible, USPAP-compliant opinion of value from a credentialed professional. That distinction matters.
In Connecticut — and in every state where FIRREA applies to federally regulated lending — a commercial real estate appraisal must be completed by a Certified General Appraiser. That's the highest license level in the profession. A Certified Residential Appraiser cannot legally appraise most commercial properties for federally related transactions.
At Baldwin Appraisal Services, every appraisal is conducted by Michael Baldwin, a Certified General Appraiser licensed in 11 states and an MAI candidate — one of the most rigorous professional designations in the field. You're not getting a trainee, an assistant, or a desktop review that gets rubber-stamped. You're getting a licensed appraiser who walks the property himself.
That matters when the appraisal gets scrutinized — by a lender's underwriter, by an attorney in a dispute, or by the IRS.
A few questions worth asking any appraiser before you engage:
Are you a Certified General Appraiser? For any commercial property involved in federally regulated lending, this is a requirement, not a preference. Will the appraiser physically inspect the property? Desktop appraisals exist, but they carry risk. For anything that matters — a purchase, a refinance, a dispute — you want boots on the ground. Is the fee a flat fee or hourly? Hourly engagements can expand unpredictably. Know what you're agreeing to. How many value conclusions does the engagement require? Work through this before you get the invoice. If your lender is going to need as-is and as-complete, tell the appraiser upfront. What's the turnaround? A two-to-three-week standard timeline is normal. If someone quotes you a week with no rush fee, ask why.If you have a commercial property in Connecticut, New York, or any of the other states we cover, call us directly at (860) 294-4325 or submit a quote request through our website. We'll review the assignment, confirm the scope, and give you an exact fee before you commit to anything.
No sales call. No estimate. Just a straight answer.