Greetings & best wishes to all for a
Joyous Easter & Happy Passover!

The April 15th deadline finds many of us busy completing Charitable Contribution Appraisals, Estate Appraisals, and our own income taxes. With all of this worthwhile and beneficial activity, one could easily miss out on experiencing the exhilaration of spring!

Need a respite? Then join us at our April 20th ASA San Diego Chapter Meeting -- and partake in another fine presentation, in the company of your professional peers.

Hoping to see you!

Best Regards, Paul Golubovs, MBA, ASA

Congratulations MCGRATH, ASA

Mark has successfully advanced to Accredited Senior Appraiser - Real Estate, Urban

PAUL GOLUBOVS, ASA

Paul was the speaker at the April ASA LA Chapter meeting, giving a presentation on Weapons & Swords.

GEORGIE STILLMAN, ASA

Georgie has accepted an invitation to join the Board of the Latin American Arts Committee of the San Diego Museum of Art. The Latin American Arts Committee (LAAC) is dedicated to enhancing appreciation of the artwork of the countries of Mexico, Central & South American and supporting the SDMA in exhibitions and acquisitions showcasing Latin American Arts.

Thom Underwood, ASA

If you haven't already seen it, Thom was featured in the 2005 ASA Spring Quarterly - Software Developed by ASA Expert Is Among Top Tools of Gems and Jewelry Practitioners.

(Article is in .pdf format and requires the free Adobe Reader. It is a fairly large file, so may take time to load.)

April visitors to Locate an Appraiser page up again!

What's a blog?

A blog gives you a voice on the web. It's a place to collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it's your professional commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.

Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while personal journalers reveal inner thoughts.

These days there are currently over 11 million blogs on the internet, most of which are personal. However, businesses are beginning to turn blogging into an effective tool. Nike recently launched an "adverblog" in conjunction with Gawker Media, while Lee Dungarees' "90 Ft. Babe" blog chronicles the adventures of a clearly fictional giantess looking for a date. Advertising agencies like Starcom MediaVest will use these adverblogs in much the same way that they use micro websites — drawing in a targeted audience but in a way such that the interaction is based on comments from the community.

Here's a few examples - Art News - Real Estate - Business Valuation

High Priced Designer Furnishings High Value

It is interesting how stratified markets are. For example, very expensive furniture is worth only a fraction of its cost in the secondary market, even if in ‘mint’ condition.

I do a lot of divorce appraisals, for some pretty wealthy people (well, they were wealthy before the ‘divorce dragon’ began to gobble up all their money). They have this expensive designer furniture and accessories in some big old 7000 square foot house, not counting the pool guest house, separate multi-car garage, etc. Sometimes this stuff is really new, hardly used, just where the interior decorator carefully placed it. And all this stuff cost more than my house – a recent divorce appraisal had furnishing receipts for well over a million bucks. Well now we have a problem, a big problem, one that is difficult to explain to the ‘parties’ to the action. This ‘stuff’ has practically no market outside the loving embrace of an interior decorator. Normally, ‘other rich people’ don’t shop in consignment stores looking out for a great buy on Baker or Maitland-Smith furniture, and they ‘normally’ want to walk into a completely ‘done’ home, not something assembled piecemeal over months or years. Normally ‘other rich people’ use the services of an interior decorator, and these folks aren’t out shopping re-sale shops because they want their commission on the new stuff, and it is hard to sell a really rich couple on the merit of buying someone else’s ‘gently’ used stuff.

So there is all this really great furniture out there, just waiting for you or me to come along and take it home. Or maybe you can do as I just did this week, and take a lovely sun-and-ocean vista jaunt up and down the 101 Coast Hi-way, from Oceanside, La Costa, Cedros Design District to Morena Blvd., then over to Karen’s Consignments, and having gathered my comps, billed the time to the client.

Happy hunting, or just collecting ‘comparables’.

Georgie Stillman, ASA

San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park, April 16 thru June 12

Retratos (the Spanish word for portraits) is the first comprehensive display of Latin American portraits to tour the USA. This is an exceptional must-see exhibition featuring artworks dating from pre-Columbian through contemporary times from fifteen different Latin-American countries. Take a moment from you busy life and enjoy this colorful and stimulating show. There are also some very interesting lectures being offered in conjunction with the exhibition, which will add to your enjoyment of the artworks.

“The Face of a Nation: Portraits, History and Lives in 19th Century Mexico”. Dr. Stacie Widdifield. SDMA, Sunday May 22, 3:00PM, Copley Auditorium. Free with museum admission.

“Mexican Masks as Retratos”. Dr. Janet Brody Esser. Friday June 3, 6:00 PM. $10 SDMA members/$12 non-members/$8 students/Free to LAAC members. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information about this exhibit, visit the San Diego Museum of Art website.

Your San Diego ASA Chapter Board works hard to make your membership in the ASA meaningful by presenting monthly programs that will enhance your appraisal career through professional education, marketing the ASA brand to potential clients and providing a venue for networking and career growth through mentoring opportunities.

The only path to improve the value of your ASA membership is through YOUR PARTICIPATION. We need your ideas for meeting speakers and programs. We need your thoughts on how to better market YOUR services. Please give some thought to how we can improve your ASA experience here in San Diego County, and contact a Board member with your thoughts. Or even better, come to a monthly Board meeting, held just prior to our meeting at 5:00 PM, and give us your ideas. Board meetings are open to all members, and I look forward to seeing you soon and hearing your ideas.

Georgie Stillman, ASA

Personal Property Committee Plan Ireland Trip

"A Portrait of Ireland: Treasures of the Emerald Isle" is the title of this year's Personal Property annual conference, scheduled for Sept. 28–Oct. 10, 2005. The conference, held in conjunction with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), will include travel to key areas important to Irish history, art and design.

Contact Janella Smyth, ASA, at (919) 468-5557 for additional information.

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 or call 1-619-781-8588.

This newsletter is published (September through June) 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
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