Joe Rosen has taken real estate appraisal assignments all over the South: Sevierville and Memphis, TN; Atlanta and Augusta, GA; Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro, NC; and 30 counties in SC. His father, Harvey Rosen, founded Rosen Appraisal Associates and has been doing the same for 50 years. Name a building type, any building type or land use, and the Rosens have appraised its value.

They have ap-praised empty lots, raw acreage, condominiums, houses from 550 square feet to 12,000 square feet, car washes, churches, radio towers, convenience stores, funeral homes, office buildings, shopping centers, and warehouses. Also, the Rosens perform partial and total acquisitions and easements for new roads, road widening, and utility and power lines.

Having attended Crayton, both the elementary and junior high schools, and A. C. Flora High School, Joe Rosen graduated from USC in 1977 with a BS in finance–real estate. Early in his career, Rosen attained the status of a state certified general real estate appraiser in SC, NC, and GA while working with his father before college graduation.

The former NBSC branch on Millwood Ave. was appraised at $530,000 by Richland One. Rosen’s preliminary valuation came to approximately $900,000. Photo courtesy of Rosen Appraisal Associates To maintain his professional ranking, Rosen registers at least 14 hours a year in continuing education. He has attended 10 appraisal courses sponsored by the Appraisal Institute. Covering all related areas of the business, Rosen has taken over 60 one–day seminars.

Before 1992, all it took to achieve professional status as an appraiser was a real estate license. Since 1992, the appraiser aspirant must work for an appraiser as an intern, take the required courses, and pass the exam to qualify for a license. The first license, the profession’s lowest level, is for residential only and even then for no more than $1 million in value.

More recently, Rosen has seen residential competition from the Internet at the lower end. An automated valuation model (AVM) is available to anyone at the keyboard. The Web sites keep records of comparable properties and their sales histories, and the valuation comes across as a street legal and industry accepted residential appraisal.

The problem with AVMs is the lack of overall awareness, the failure to find all the little facts with an impact on value. What’s the property’s provenance? Has there ever been a fire? Is there any notoriety associated with the property? Good or bad? Is there a suspected problem below ground with toxic waste? How about a shifting water table elevation? Is there a zoning change pending? Is a major development under way nearby? There are always circumstances not taken into account with a mere sales price history quoted by an AVM.

On the commercial side, one of Rosen’s current case studies is his appraisal on behalf of the owner of the NBSC branch on Millwood Avenue near Dreher High School. Richland School District One appraised the bank branch building at $530,000 as it moved to condemn the property for Dreher’s expansion. Richland One was prepared to pay $530,000. Rosen’s re-searched preliminary valuation came to something short of $900,000.

Rosen put together a compilation of bank branch values around town, including rents and sale prices, besides the records of nearby real estate sales. The rents were put through an income capitalization approach, which is a method to determine the present worth of future benefits to be derived from the ownership of the property. The school district paid the owner of the NBSC branch building $800,000, and another $75,000 came from the owner as a tax–conscious donation.

Moreover, Richland One moved to condemn the property and pay the owner $530,000. The owner brought in real estate appraiser Joe Rosen. The final valuation was $875,000.

Joe Rosen

Photo by John Temple Ligon