Kim Ufford, AM, Business Valuation

Kim Ufford is a shareholder in Levitz, Zacks & Ciceric, Certified Public Accountants, a long-established and highly regarded San Diego institution, where he leads their appraisal department. Kim says his practice is currently centered on three areas of business valuation: Family Limited Partnerships (for estate planning purposes); Corporate Shareholder Transactions (shareholder buyouts or transfers to key employees); and S Corporation Elections.

Kim graduated from the University of Minnesota, and spent 7 ½ years working for Coopers & Lybrand, a big-8 accounting firm, prior to moving to San Diego to combine the fun of rollerblading and beach days with professional practice. He has served the San Diego ASA Chapter for 4 years as an Officer and has just been elected for his 5th term.

Kim has a twinkle in his eye, a relaxed, friendly manner, and is always ready to help with Chapter business. (He has only missed one meeting – tax time pressure at work - in 5 years!). Kim says he enjoys the arts & antiques programs offered by the Chapter and thinks he is getting the inside scoop on how to collect the ‘right stuff’ to enjoy in his leisure time from the business world.

Greetings!

The sixtieth commemoration of D-Day, and the passing of President Ronald Reagan, have given us all the opportunity to reflect upon the painfully high price of freedom. Unquantifiable sacrifices were made by so many men and women who served to preserve the freedom of our nation, and to liberate other less fortunate countries. What a blessing it is to be an American!

Congratulations to the newly elected San Diego Chapter Officers, who will be sworn into office at our June 15th meeting. The experience and enthusiasm of Georgie Stillman, George LeBaron, Kim Ufford, Pamela Bensoussan, and Joe Ellen Cole will provide superb continuity in the leadership of our chapter.

I greatly appreciate the magnificent support and professional excellence of the San Diego Chapter Board members, who have served with me during the 2003-2004 term: Georgie Stillman, Kim Ufford, Peter Butler, Pamela Bensoussan, and Winslow Garnier. In addition are other tireless volunteers such as George LeBaron, and our two Newsletter Editors, Margy Ashby and Jan Giamanco. Heartfelt thanks to all of you for your service to the San Diego Chapter!

I look forward to seeing you all on June 15th!

Best Regards, Paul Golubovs, MBA, ASA

Greetings!

Do you ever experience a big huge surprise in your appraisal work? Make an assumption based on past experience, and find out you are dead wrong? I do. And not infrequently. It is why I always check market comps before I finish an appraisal, even for things I think I know all about. I am sometimes terrifically amazed. One such situation arose in an estate appraisal I was working on a week ago, in a house in a fine old San Diego neighborhood where Kate Sessions, the famous Balboa Park landscape genius, had her last home and garden. There sat a little Tiffany bronze inkwell, in the butterfly pattern, with a broken gold favrile insert, and lacking another piece, the lid that fits into the insert. I thought ‘oh well’, nothing much here, the insert is broken, no lid. The average ‘local market estate sale’ price for a Tiffany desk set inkwell, even with the insert intact, isn’t much more than $400 - $450. There were some challenges in the estate, so I concentrated on them. Right before I finished up the appraisal I thought I should check out the inkwell, just to be careful.

$1500 Tiffany Inkwell

One of my Tiffany reference books showed it, along with 17 other inkwells, in a group photo. I went online to Artfact.com and did a search. Ye gods! About a page & a half into the comps I spot a Tiffany butterfly inkwell, just like ‘mine’, but with a blue favrile insert, and the lid, in perfect condition, that made $17, 925 at a Doyle NY sale on February 25, 2004! After I got up from the floor, I checked the Maine Antique Digest site, to learn about the sale, and found that it was the sale of a famous Tiffany collector, one of the most important sales of Tiffany objects to take place in memory. Then I made some phone calls to dealers I trust in Manhattan to get the background story on the inkwell. Turns out they were all dumbfounded at the sale prices, and said the prices were way over market, and they didn’t expect them to be repeated.

$17, 975 Tiffany Inkwell

So back to checking more comps for other past sales for similar inkwells, turning up a $1500 range for a perfect similar object. I ended up with a value of about $1,000 for my example, “as is”, in the local market, and maybe more if offered in a New York sale, and fully annotated my market analysis for this item, explaining that condition, the presence of the lid, rarity of the blue favrile color, provenance and ‘auction fever’ had made this sale an inappropriate comparable, in my opinion. Can you imagine the embarrassment I would have suffered if I hadn’t checked out this Tiffany piece, and my client stumbled on the $17,925 sale.

Maybe you don’t suffer these ‘near disasters’. Maybe I’m lazy and have to push to go the ‘final mile’ as I am finishing up my work. But I never regret doing my ‘due diligence’ and checking those items, even if I think I know something.

Wishing you all the best, Georgie Stillman, ASA

Welcome To New Candidate - Greg Tesone
San Diego Business Valuation

In conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art's
Saint Peter & The Vatican Exhibition (May 15 – September 6, 2004)
the following two courses are being offered:

Princely Patrons: The Popes as Builders & Patrons of Art in Rome, 1420 – 1870
Wednesday evenings, July 14 – August 18, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. James Grebl, Ph.D., Instructor

The Roman Renaissance & The Papal Court
Tuesday evenings, July 6 –27, 6:00 – 8:15 p.m. James Grebl, Ph.D., Instructor. (USCD credit course).
Dr. Grebl’s specialization is in Classical, Renaissance & Pre-Columbian Art, and he is a wonderful guide to the current exhibit.

Special Note
Several courses and seminars are being offered in and around the July, 2004 International Appraisal Conference in Kansas City. Many are listed below. For details, please visit the Conference website. For registration & informational links, visit the ASA International site.

The Prairie Print Makers Kansas City - July 29
A full day of lectures and hands-on experience with prints of this important artist group, will be presented by distinguished museum experts. Sponsored by the ASA Personal Property Committee, it immediately follows the ASA International Conference.

Gems & Jewelry

GJ205 - Gems and Jewelry Appraisal Theory, Methods and Application
Reno - June 6 – 8

Expert Testifying Skills & Report Writing
Kansas City - July 25

Business Valuation

BV201N - Introduction to Business Valuation -Kansas City - July 25 - 28
Introduction of business valuation theory, research methodology, economic and industry analysis, asset approach, intangible assets and special introductory topics.

BV202N — The Income Approach - Kansas City - July 25 - 28
Intermediate level seminar that addresses Ibbotson variables-review and challenges; invested capital and equity approaches; CAPM, beta, Hamada model; capitalization methodologies; discounted methodologies; S Corp taxation in the post'"Gross" world; and discounts and premiums.

Personal Property

19th & 20th Century Jewelry: The Fashion & The Flair - UC Irvine - June 30-July 1

The Mystique of Antique Furniture (Section 1) - UC Irvine - June 26-27

Silver From the Ground Up - UC Irvine - June 24-25

History & Craft of Handmade Oriental /Persian Rugs - UC Irvine - June 28-29

Make Your Membership Work for You !

The Chapter website (www.sandiegoappraiser.org) has been up and running for several months now. After giving a period of time to ‘get things right’ I have now asked that ASA International ‘mirror’ our site at the International HQ site. I have been told this will happen soon.

To make the website a successful marketing tool, bringing new business to you and making "ASA & AM" the designation of choice among San Diego Region prospective clients, please add the ASA website address to your letterhead & email correspondence. Your Board is considering taking an add in the local attorneys magazine to publicize our ASA San Diego website, but the most effective marketing tool is your use of it in your marketing and correspondence. We built this website with our Chapter money, your membership money, and so let’s all make the best use of it possible.

Georgie Stillman, ASA

Your Contact Information

Since the majority of our communications are via email and we encourage contact through the website, it's very important that you keep us informed of any changes to your contact information. Should your email address, phone, fax, or physical address change, please contact our Executive Administrator, Jan Giamanco.

On behalf of the Nomination Committee, I would like to thank the nominees for their willingness to serve the San Diego Chapter of the ASA in these leadership positions. The outcome of the election is as follows.

President - Georgie Stillman ASA
1st VP - George LeBaron ASA
2nd VP - Kim Ufford AM
Treasurer - Pamela Bensoussan ASA
Secretary - Jo Ellen Cole Candidate

Although the voter turnout was low (19 ballots submitted*), the results were unanimous. Any member wishing to see an exact tally of votes may do so by contacting our Election Administrator, Jan Giamanco. All ballots submitted via email through the secure, online ballot have been retained electronically and mailed/faxed ballots are on file.

Sincerely, J. R. Westfall,
Chairman of the Nomination Committee

* Editorial note: This is an increase in participation over last year's election with 15 responses.

The San Diego ASA Chapter is ‘dark’ for the months of July & August. No regular monthly dinner meetings are held during this time. We do traditionally have a fun summer get together. In the past it was also titled an “Organizational Meeting” – but it is really just for fun. “Stay Tuned at this Spot” for further notice!

Chapter business will still be conducted, with applications for candidates and advancements being processed as usual, and one or two Newsletters will be coming your way, along with reminders to check the website regularly.

For details about the ASA San Diego Chapter, contact information for Chapter Officers or to locate/contact an ASA designated appraiser to meet your needs, please visit our web site at SanDiegoAppraisers.org.

This newsletter is published monthly via email as a service to the ASA Members and the community it serves. If you would like to receive this publication, please contact Georgie Stillman - 619-563-9000.

Newsletter Editor - Georgie Stillman, ASA
Newsletter Published by G-Force Services