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New Jersey bankruptcy appraisers preparing USPAP-compliant appraisals of equipment and machinery, business interests, boats and watercraft, automobiles and vehicles, and inventory for bankruptcy schedules and court filings. AppraiseItNow provides credentialed, USPAP-compliant bankruptcy filing appraisals across New Jersey, including Newark, Jersey City, and Trenton.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, AUDITORS, AND NEW JERSEY COURTS.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Business Valuation Expert & Appraiser
ASA, ABV, and CFA charterholder. Since 2016 Justin has valued businesses for estate and gift tax, purchase price allocations, fairness opinions, lending, and buy-sell agreements, across manufacturing, services, retail, and pre-revenue biotech.
Business Valuation Expert & Appraiser
Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers. Raymond values capital stock, business enterprises, stock options, and intangible assets.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Vehicle Appraiser
CAGA Certified Appraiser since 2014, covering vehicles, boats, equipment, fine art, and collectibles. A classic-car restoration background informs her vehicle work, with reports prepared for insurance, divorce, and charitable contributions.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
American Society of AppraisersAccredited Senior Appraiser
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsSchedule A/B asks for a current value on everything the debtor owns, and only some of it has an observable price. We take the assets whose value has to be built rather than looked up.
Business and equipment
Closely held interests, production machinery, and specialized equipment have no published price, and they are usually the largest numbers on the schedule. Both the going concern figure and the orderly liquidation figure come out of the same analysis.
Vehicles and vessels
An ordinary late-model car has a published market. A modified, restored, high-mileage, or damaged one does not, and neither does a boat with a recorded mortgage against it. Those are the ones a secured creditor argues about.
Household and personal property
Household goods rarely need an appraisal one item at a time. They need one when the total is near an exemption limit, when a collection sits inside the household, or when the trustee questions a lump figure on the schedule.
One asset, three proceedings, three questions. A report written for the wrong one is not a smaller version of the right one; it answers something nobody asked. We confirm the chapter and the purpose before the analysis starts.
Chapter 7
A liquidation analysis asks what a trustee would actually realize for the property, net of the costs of selling it. The exemption asks whether the fair market value § 522(a)(2) defines sits inside or outside the ceiling the debtor elected. Where a lender holds the asset as collateral, its claim takes the replacement figure instead. Three questions, three answers, one car.
Chapter 11
A reorganization is a comparison. The plan has to show creditors they do at least as well as they would in a liquidation, so the same equipment and the same business interest are valued twice, on two clearly named bases, in one report. The retail replacement rule does not reach a Chapter 11: collateral here is valued under § 506(a)(1), in light of the purpose of the valuation and the proposed disposition or use.
Chapter 13
Where personal property secures an allowed claim, the split between secured and unsecured turns on the property's value at the filing date, and the plan is built on that split. A late or current-market figure is the wrong date, however well supported.
Three things decide what a New Jersey bankruptcy valuation has to be: how much the debtor can protect, what basis the value is written on, and how the report reaches the court.
Exemptions
$1,000
the total New Jersey exemption for household goods and furniture, with a separate $1,000 cap on goods, chattels, personal property, and corporate stock
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:26-4 exempts household goods and furniture up to $1,000. Section 2A:17-19 caps goods, chattels, personal property, and interests in corporate stock at $1,000 in total. A debtor electing the New Jersey set has to choose which items sit inside that figure, which is only possible if the items have individual values.
The measure against those caps is fair market value as of the petition date, which is how § 522(a)(2) defines value for exemption purposes, and not the replacement figure the same property takes as a lender's collateral. The federal alternative under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) protects considerably more, which is why New Jersey filers commonly take it; the election is made for the whole case, so it belongs at the start.
Valuation Standard
§ 506(a)(2)
the Bankruptcy Code provision fixing replacement value for personal property securing an allowed claim in an individual Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case
Where personal property secures an allowed claim and the debtor is an individual in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, § 506(a)(2) sets value at replacement value as of the petition date, without deduction for the costs of sale or marketing. For property acquired for personal, family, or household use, replacement value means the price a retail merchant would charge for property of that kind, given its age and condition.
Every clause in that sentence is a limit. Outside it, in a Chapter 11, for a business debtor, or where the collateral is being surrendered rather than kept, § 506(a)(1) applies instead and value is determined in light of the purpose of the valuation and the proposed disposition or use. A report that names replacement value without naming which of these it is answering has not said anything a trustee can rely on.
The Court's Docket
Appraisal
the dedicated CM/ECF event the District of New Jersey gives an appraisal report, filed under Bankruptcy and then Misc. Events
The court publishes the path: select Bankruptcy, then Misc. Events, enter the case number, choose the Appraisal event, upload the report as a PDF, and describe the property valued. Many districts treat a valuation only as an exhibit attached to a motion.
A report that stands alone on the docket is read alone, by a trustee or a creditor who has not seen the motion it supports. Ours is written to carry its own scope, effective date, standard of value, and evidence, for that reason.
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
Affordable and reliable, with fast service and always responsive to my messages and questions. They delivered my appraisal on time without a glitch. 100% Recommended! I wouldn’t use anyone else for my business. Thank you, Joe — you’re great!
Machinery & Equipment Appraisal for Bankruptcy Filing
Responsive, professional, first class deliverables -- especially considering that that the appraised assets are extremely complex financial assets with little by way of comps. The deliverable satisfied my accountants and advisers as being more than adequate to support the valuation needed to complete a conversion to a Roth IRA
Business Valuation Appraisal for IRA Conversion
I was in dire need of an appraisal for my father's mobile home, which he needed for Medicaid approval. I couldn’t find anyone to do it for a long time, but then I found this company online and decided to give them a try. I’m so glad I did. They were wonderful to work with. I sent the pictures, and within just a few days I received the appraisal. They are absolutely worth the money.
Mobile Home Appraisal
I recently requested a retroactive appraisal for fine art from AppraiseItNow. I received excellent service from intake to delivery. The appraisal was delivered on time and the content of the appraisal absolutely met my expectations!
Artwork Appraisal
From the start they were very responsive, price competitive, and had a quick turn around time. Thank you so much to Joe who was very sweet in responding to my emails; I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come.
Very thorough and professional — great communication and outstanding service. Highly impressed with their work!
No. New Jersey licenses and certifies real estate appraisers through the State Board of Real Estate Appraisers, and no New Jersey licence covers equipment, vehicles, business interests, household goods, or collections. What a bankruptcy court weighs instead is the appraiser's qualifications, their disinterestedness, and the evidence set out in the report, which is why credentials with recognized bodies such as the ASA and ISA and a clearly documented method carry the weight here.
No. N.J. Rev. Stat. § 3B:16-2 requires a personal representative preparing a probate inventory to have a just appraisal made by two discreet and impartial persons, and to file the inventory and appraisal within three months of the grant of letters where a family exemption is being set off. That is a probate rule. A bankruptcy valuation of personal property needs neither two appraisers nor that timeline, and the two get conflated regularly.
The ones with no observable market price. Closely held business interests, specialized or aging equipment, collections, modified or damaged vehicles, and anything a secured creditor is likely to dispute. An ordinary late-model car with a published guide value and a house full of everyday furnishings usually do not, unless the total sits close to the exemption the debtor elected or the trustee questions a lump figure.
The debtor selects which items the exemption covers, up to the statutory figure, and the rest is property of the estate. That selection cannot be made from a single number for the contents of a house, so an itemized schedule of values is what makes the exemption usable. It is also the reason the federal exemption set, with its per-item and aggregate limits, tends to be the more practical election in New Jersey.
It depends which question is being asked, and both come up in the same case. Personal property securing an allowed claim, where the debtor is an individual in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, is valued at replacement value under 11 U.S.C. § 506(a)(2). Exemptions are measured against fair market value as of the petition date, which is how § 522(a)(2) defines value. Collateral in a Chapter 11, and collateral being surrendered rather than retained, falls under § 506(a)(1) and is valued in light of its proposed disposition or use. A report that does not name which one it developed is not usable for any of them.
