What is a broker opinion of value, and what does it cost?

A broker opinion of value is a written estimate of what a commercial property would sell for in the current market, prepared by a licensed broker using comparable transactions, normalised net operating income, and current buyer and lender behaviour. We provide them at no cost and with no obligation to list. That is standard practice among commercial brokers, who prepare them in the course of seeking engagements. It also means you should read any valuation with an awareness of that incentive — which is why ours shows a range and the reasoning behind it rather than a single headline number.

What is the difference between a broker opinion of value and an appraisal?

An appraisal is prepared by a state-licensed or certified appraiser following a formal standard, independent of any transaction interest, and is what lenders, courts, and tax authorities require. A broker opinion of value is prepared by a licensed broker and reflects what buyers are actually paying and able to finance right now. A broker sees rejected offers, failed diligence, and current lender appetite — information that does not appear in closed comparable sales for months. If you need a valuation for financing, litigation, divorce, or estate tax, you need an appraisal, and we will tell you that.

How long does a broker opinion of value take?

Usually a few business days once we have the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements plus trailing twelve months, and the terms of any debt in place. More complex assets — unusual unit mixes, significant vacancy, mixed use, or properties in markets with thin comparable data such as Brevard County — take longer, because the analysis requires pulling transaction data rather than generalising from a market average.

Will you tell me not to sell?

Yes, when that is the answer. In Syracuse, Micron's fab timeline has moved to 2030 and beyond, which makes a genuine case for waiting that does not exist in most markets. In Orlando, the construction pipeline is shrinking and absorption has turned positive, which is an argument for patience. We take a deliberately limited number of assignments, so there is no volume target pushing us to list something that should not be listed. A relationship that produces the right transaction in three years is worth more to us than the wrong one now.

Broker Opinion of Value — What Is My Property Worth?

A broker opinion of value is a written estimate of what a commercial property would sell for in the current market, prepared by a licensed broker. It is based on comparable transactions, the property's normalised net operating income, and current buyer and lender behaviour.

We prepare broker opinions of value for multifamily and industrial owners in Upstate New York and Florida at no cost and with no obligation to list. Most owners who request one are not selling this year, and that is a perfectly good reason to get one.

01 / Definition What it is and what it is not

A valuation, not an appraisal.

These two documents get confused constantly, and the difference matters when a lender, a court, or a tax authority is involved.

Broker opinion of value

Prepared by a licensed real estate broker
Reflects what buyers are actually paying and financing right now
Usually delivered in days
Typically provided without charge by a broker seeking an engagement
Not accepted for most lending, litigation, or estate tax purposes

Appraisal

Prepared by a state-licensed or certified appraiser
Follows a formal standard, independent of any transaction interest
Usually several weeks
Paid engagement
Required for financing, litigation, estate, and tax matters

The practical distinction: an appraisal is what an institution requires; a broker opinion of value is what tells you what the market will actually pay. A broker sees the offers that were made and rejected, the deals that fell apart in diligence, and what buyers are currently able to finance. That information does not appear in closed comparable sales for months, if ever.

If you need a valuation for a loan, a partnership dispute, a divorce, or estate tax purposes, you need an appraisal, and we will say so rather than sell you something that will not serve.

02 / Method What goes into ours

Normalised net operating income. Your operating statements restated the way a buyer will underwrite them — owner expenses added back, management fees marked to market, reserves applied. This is usually the single largest source of disagreement between what an owner expects and what a buyer offers.
Expense lines that change on sale. Post-sale property tax reassessment in Upstate New York, where the Rochester metro carries the highest effective rate in the country. Current insurance quotes in Florida rather than the expiring policy. Both are routine causes of a retrade when left unexamined.
The regulatory position. Whether Good Cause Eviction applies to the property, which in New York is decided municipality by municipality and directly constrains the rent growth a buyer can underwrite. See the Good Cause map.
Comparable transactions, adjusted. Not a list of nearby sales, but adjusted for vintage, condition, unit mix, submarket, and the date of the transaction relative to where debt pricing has since moved.
Current debt market conditions. Buyers bid what they can finance. Our affiliated bridge lending business reviews more than $3 billion of commercial real estate annually, which gives us a live read on lender appetite rather than a lagging one.
A range, with the reasoning shown. Not a single number designed to win an engagement. If the range is wide, we explain what would narrow it.

03 / Timing When to get one

Most owners request a valuation when they are already committed to selling. That is the least useful moment to get one. The situations where it changes a decision:

Two to three years before a planned exit, when there is still time to act on what the valuation reveals about how the asset is being underwritten.
Before a refinance, to know whether the market would pay more than the debt you are about to place against it.
Partnership planning, where a defensible number matters more than an optimistic one.
Estate and succession planning, usually alongside a formal appraisal rather than instead of one.
After a market move, such as Tampa's 23% single-year decline in median price per unit, or a municipality adopting Good Cause Eviction.
When an unsolicited offer arrives. Direct offers to owners are frequently below market, and are made precisely because the owner has no independent basis for comparison.

04 / Questions Common questions

What is a broker opinion of value, and what does it cost?

A broker opinion of value is a written estimate of what a commercial property would sell for in the current market, prepared by a licensed broker using comparable transactions, normalised net operating income, and current buyer and lender behaviour.

We provide them at no cost and with no obligation to list. That is standard practice among commercial brokers, who prepare them in the course of seeking engagements. It also means you should read any valuation with an awareness of that incentive — which is why ours shows a range and the reasoning behind it rather than a single headline number.
What is the difference between a broker opinion of value and an appraisal?

An appraisal is prepared by a state-licensed or certified appraiser following a formal standard, independent of any transaction interest, and is what lenders, courts, and tax authorities require. A broker opinion of value is prepared by a licensed broker and reflects what buyers are actually paying and able to finance right now.

A broker sees rejected offers, failed diligence, and current lender appetite — information that does not appear in closed comparable sales for months. If you need a valuation for financing, litigation, divorce, or estate tax, you need an appraisal, and we will tell you that.
How long does a broker opinion of value take?

Usually a few business days once we have the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements plus trailing twelve months, and the terms of any debt in place.

More complex assets — unusual unit mixes, significant vacancy, mixed use, or properties in markets with thin comparable data such as Brevard County — take longer, because the analysis requires pulling transaction data rather than generalising from a market average.
Will you tell me not to sell?

Yes, when that is the answer. In Syracuse, Micron's fab timeline has moved to 2030 and beyond, which makes a genuine case for waiting that does not exist in most markets. In Orlando, the construction pipeline is shrinking and absorption has turned positive, which is an argument for patience.

We take a deliberately limited number of assignments, so there is no volume target pushing us to list something that should not be listed. A relationship that produces the right transaction in three years is worth more to us than the wrong one now.

This page is general information about how commercial real estate investment sales work, not legal, tax, or investment advice, and not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or service. Timelines, fee structures, and market conventions described here vary by transaction; nothing on this page is a quote or a commitment. Any engagement is governed by a written agreement.

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