Corpus Christi Equipment Appraisal
Heavy equipment valuations for the Coastal Bend, signed by a certified appraiser. Starting at $295.
Corpus Christi equipment appraisal is the certified valuation of Coastal Bend heavy equipment: cranes, aerial lifts and earthmovers from port and plant work, trucks and trailers, and cotton and grain machinery. A crane contractor between plant jobs at Ingleside, a Nueces County cotton grower replacing a harvester, and a bank lending against either one’s equipment each come to a Corpus Christi equipment appraiser for a number they can defend.
- Equipment in Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties can go in a single report.
- A desktop appraisal is built from photos and records, so a machine behind a plant gate does not have to come out.
- If your lender or a court wants the equipment seen, an on-site inspection can be arranged once access is cleared.
- Every report follows USPAP, the standard appraisers work to, and carries the signature of a CMEA (Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser).
- The fee and a delivery date reach you by email before you commit.
- USPAP-compliant
- Signed by a CMEA
- Rated 5.0 on Google
How do I start a Corpus Christi equipment appraisal?
1. Count the pieces
Pick how many pieces you have on the form above. Three more short questions follow.
2. Note where each piece is
The form asks for the city. Keep a note of the county too, and of whether each piece is on a dock, inside a plant or on a farm. Where a machine sits decides which county taxes it and how it can be seen.
3. Send photos and records
After you accept the quote, send photos of serial plates, hour meters and inspection tags, with any service records. The signed report is emailed to you.
What should a Coastal Bend owner know before ordering?
- Three counties, three districts
- The Corpus Christi end of the Coastal Bend, as this stretch of the Texas coast is called, is Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties. Each has its own appraisal district for taxing business equipment. Gregory is in San Patricio County, and Portland and Ingleside reach into it, so equipment kept there is reported to the district in Sinton and not to the one in Corpus Christi.
- Property tax filing
- The yearly list of business equipment an owner gives the county is called a rendition, and it is due April 15. Ask by April 15 and the deadline becomes May 15. File late and 10 percent is added to the tax. The San Patricio County Appraisal District spells this out on its site. San Patricio County Appraisal District
- Which value
- Fair market value is the price in a sale where nobody is in a hurry. Orderly liquidation value is what the equipment brings when it must be sold within a few months. Lenders usually want to see the two together.
- SBA loans
- The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) serves Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties from its Lower Rio Grande Valley District Office in Harlingen.
- Turnaround
- Allow 7 to 10 business days after your photos and records are in. A rush of 24 to 48 hours is available for a single machine or a handful. An on-site inspection takes longer.
- Fee
- Starting at $295. The count of machines, any inspection and your deadline decide the final fee.
What should I know about port, plant and farm equipment here?
Work along the ship channel, on the water and in the cotton fields each raises its own questions.
Equipment behind plant gates
Refineries line the ship channel in Corpus Christi. On the far side of the Harbor Bridge, Cheniere is adding to its liquefied natural gas plant and Enbridge runs its crude oil terminal at Ingleside. A visitor needs the plant’s permission to reach the cranes, aerial lifts and welding machines working inside. A desktop appraisal does not need a visit. An operator photographs the machine, its serial plate and its inspection tags where it stands.
Cranes and equipment on the water
The Port of Corpus Christi keeps its own Liebherr harbor crane at Cargo Dock 8. A crane or an excavator that works from a barge can be a different matter for a lender, because mortgages on vessels registered with the federal government are recorded federally. Ask your lender where it records its claim, and tell us if anything on your list works from the water.
Cotton and grain machinery
Nueces County grows cotton and grain sorghum. A cotton harvester does one job for a few weeks a year, and the people who buy a used one are other cotton growers. Send the engine hours, the fan or separator hours if the machine records them, and a list of the headers that go with it.
What clients have said
“thank you for preparing this so quickly.”
“The appraisal looks good to me.”
“Thanks for the appraisal. It’s just what I needed. You guys are awesome! I’ll try to send you some referrals.”
What kinds of Coastal Bend equipment are appraised?
Heavy equipment from the port, the plants, the roads and the fields, whether that is a single piece or an entire fleet.
Cranes
Crawler, rough-terrain and truck cranes. Send the latest inspection and say how the boom is set up.
Aerial lifts and telehandlers
Boom lifts, scissor lifts and telehandlers from plant work. Send a photo of the hour meter and of the yearly inspection tag.
Earthmoving
Excavators, dozers and loaders from site work and road jobs. Photograph the tracks and the bucket.
Trucks and trailers
Haul trucks, vacuum trucks and tank trailers. Give the VIN and the odometer reading for each.
Farm machinery
Cotton harvesters, combines, tractors and grain carts from Nueces County and the counties next to it.
Welding and plant support
Welding machines, air compressors, generators and light towers. List them by serial number, even the small ones.
Not on this list? Describe it on the form.
How do I choose an appraiser for Coastal Bend equipment?
Can they work without getting through the gate?
Getting into a plant or onto a dock around Corpus Christi takes a badge and time. Ask whether the appraiser can work from photos an operator takes, and what those photos have to show.
Do they know cotton machinery as well as cranes?
Farm equipment in Nueces County means cotton and grain machinery. Ask what the appraiser needs to see on a cotton harvester that it would not need on a combine.
Do they ask whether a piece works on a dock or from a barge?
On this coast the answer can change how a lender secures its loan. An appraiser who asks where each piece works is thinking about how the report will be used.
Which offices and courts around Corpus Christi use an appraisal?
The appraisal districts. The Nueces Central Appraisal District on North Chaparral Street, the San Patricio County Appraisal District in Sinton and the Aransas County Appraisal District in Rockport put a taxable value on business equipment. An owner who thinks a value is too high can ask the district to lower it, and an appraisal backs up the request. Nueces Central Appraisal District
Federal court. Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties belong to the Corpus Christi Division of the Southern District of Texas, which sits at the U.S. Courthouse on North Shoreline Boulevard.
Lenders. Ask your loan officer which values the bank wants before you order, and whether it needs the equipment inspected in person.
What should I send?
- A list of the equipment and where each piece is kept.
- Serial numbers or VINs, and the hours or miles on each piece.
- Photos of all sides, the serial plate, the meter and any inspection tag.
- Inspection and service records for cranes and lifts.
- Who the report is for and when they need it.
Which Coastal Bend towns are covered?
Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties, including:
- Corpus Christi
- Robstown
- Port Aransas
- Bishop
- Driscoll
- Agua Dulce
- Portland
- Gregory
- Ingleside
- Aransas Pass
- Sinton
- Taft
- Odem
- Mathis
- Rockport
- Fulton
The SBA office that serves the Coastal Bend is in Harlingen. Brownsville and Harlingen equipment appraisal
Houston is a separate division of the same federal district. equipment appraisal in Houston
Victoria is the next federal court division up the coast. equipment appraisal in Victoria
What else do Corpus Christi equipment owners ask?
Is there a place to sell used equipment in Corpus Christi?
Two places to start: the Holt Cat dealership on South Padre Island Drive, and the online auctions of Ritchie Bros., which has sold machines located in Corpus Christi and Robstown.
Can you appraise a machine that is inside a refinery or an LNG plant?
Yes, as a desktop appraisal. Someone with access photographs the machine, its plates and its tags, and sends the records. If the reader of the report requires an inspection in person, the owner has to arrange plant access first.
My equipment is in both Nueces and San Patricio counties. Is that one report or two?
One report can cover both. Your tax filings stay separate, one to each county’s appraisal district.
Do you appraise farm equipment near Corpus Christi?
Yes. Cotton and grain sorghum are grown across Nueces County, so the lists are cotton harvesters, combines, tractors and grain carts. Include the headers and attachments that would sell with each machine.
Get your Corpus Christi equipment appraisal quote
Cranes, lifts, earthmovers, trucks and farm machinery in Nueces, San Patricio and Aransas counties, appraised for owners, banks and courts. Four questions on the form, then the quote by email.