Houston Equipment Appraisal for Ship Channel, Oilfield and Construction Fleets.
Certified, USPAP-compliant reports on Houston machinery and equipment. Starting at $295.
Houston equipment works in salt air on the Ship Channel, under certification rules in the oilfield yards, and on highway and farm ground from the Grand Parkway to the rice country. Each of those changes what a machine is worth, and certified appraisers are expected to show where.
- A credit officer, a court or an appraisal district can rely on the signed report.
- Most reports are delivered within 7 to 10 business days.
- Fees start at $295 and are set as a flat fee before work begins.
- One machine or a full fleet can go in the same report, desktop or on-site.
- Single machines and small groups can be rushed in 24 to 48 hours.
.jpg){kind=link}
How does an equipment appraisal work in Houston?
1. Tell us what and why
Answer four questions about the equipment, where it sits and who will read the report. A lender, a Harris County court and the appraisal district each need a different value premise, so the use comes first.
2. We document the machines
Serial numbers, hours, attachments and condition are recorded from your photos and records, or on-site when the file calls for an inspection. Each unit gets a condition grade and an estimated remaining useful life.
3. You receive the signed report
A USPAP-compliant report with the sales sources named, a research note behind each value and a signed certification. Most arrive in about two weeks.
What should I know before ordering an appraisal in Houston?
- Fee
- Starting at $295. The fee depends on the number of pieces, desktop or on-site, and the deadline.
- Turnaround
- Most reports within 7 to 10 business days. Rush delivery in 24 to 48 hours is available for single machines and small groups.
- Standard
- Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), with a signed certification from a Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser (CMEA).
- Harris County rendition
- Business equipment is rendered to the Harris Central Appraisal District after January 1 and by April 15. A written request moves the deadline to May 15. HCAD rendition guide
- Late rendition
- A late or missing rendition carries a 10 percent penalty on the tax owed for that property. Owners with less than $125,000 of equipment at one location may certify that fact in place of the full rendition.
- Where used machinery sells here
- Ritchie Bros. holds its Houston auctions at its yard in Humble, north of the city. What machines bring on that block is part of the market a local unit is measured against.
What makes Houston equipment harder to value?
Three parts of the metro put three different pressures on a machine. Valuations that ignore them price a local unit as if it worked somewhere else.
The Ship Channel, Bayport and Barbours Cut
Salt air off Galveston Bay and exposure from the refineries and chemical plants in Pasadena, Deer Park and La Porte age a machine faster than its hour meter shows. A reach stacker or yard tractor that has worked the wharf at Bayport or Barbours Cut carries corrosion in its frame, hydraulic lines and wiring that the same model inland does not. The report grades each unit’s condition and estimates its remaining useful life from what the photos and records show, so the value follows the machine and not the year on its plate.
The Energy Corridor and the oilfield yards
Oilfield iron staged in the service yards along I-10 west of downtown is priced on paperwork as much as on steel. A blowout preventer or a well service rig in sound mechanical shape loses value when its API certification has lapsed or the standard has moved, because the next owner pays to recertify it. When the records supplied show it, the research note for that unit says so in plain words, and the market conditions section of the report reads demand against drilling activity in the Eagle Ford and the Permian.
Grand Parkway, I-69 and the farm ground beyond
Highway work on the Grand Parkway and I-69 runs dozers, excavators and haul trucks that trade often, so recorded sales of construction equipment are plentiful. South and west, in Fort Bend, Brazoria and Wharton counties, a combine set up for rice has a narrower pool of buyers than the same model set up for other crops. The sales used there have to match the configuration as well as the model, and the most recent ones carry the most weight.
“I was very pleased with the speed and thoroughness of your work and will recommend you to others needing appraisal services.”
“Thanks for the quick turn and the professional approach to getting this done for all concerned.”
“The information provided was timely and assisted tremendously in our decision on the machine. We will look to Heavy Equipment Appraisal for future needs of our organization.”
Which equipment do you appraise in Houston?
Port, plant, oilfield, construction, farm and truck fleets, and nothing outside them. One report can cover a single machine or every unit on a depreciation schedule.
Each kind of equipment below has its own value driver in this market, and the report addresses it directly.
Port and terminal
Reach stackers, straddle carriers and yard tractors, with condition graded from photos of the frame, hydraulics and wiring.
Plant and industrial
Cranes, forklifts and heavy lift gear from the plants along the channel, valued from documented hours and maintenance records.
Oilfield
Well service rigs, coiled tubing units and pressure control equipment, with certification status noted where the records show it.
Construction
Dozers, excavators, loaders and motor graders from highway and site work across the metro, the most actively traded machinery in the region.
Farm
Combines, tractors and tillage equipment from the rice and row crop country south and west of the city.
Trucks and heavy haul
Winch trucks, lowboys and haul tractors, where a trailer over 4,000 pounds carries a Texas title to check.
Fees start at the published price for one machine and are quoted by scope for larger groups.
How should I choose an appraisal service in Houston?
Ask how local conditions enter the number
The answer should name the condition and what it did to the value. Salt exposure on a port machine and a lapsed certification on oilfield equipment are different problems with different evidence.
Ask to see the reasoning
A reviewer at a bank or across a courtroom reads how a value was reached before reading the value. Our reports name the sources of sales data, give each unit a research note saying what its value was concluded from, and put the photographs in the addenda.
Ask for the date in writing
A closing, a hearing and the April 15 rendition do not move. A delivery date is set in writing before work begins.
Which Houston offices will read the report?
Harris Central Appraisal District receives renditions of business equipment and hears protests of its values. A report with a stated effective date and unit-by-unit values gives the district something to weigh against its own schedule. Harris Central Appraisal District
The SBA Houston District Office covers Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, Galveston and Montgomery counties. Lenders closing SBA loans there ask for fair market value and orderly liquidation value in the same report, and both are reported for each unit.
The Texas Secretary of State is where liens on equipment are filed. The serial numbers in the report are the ones a lender matches to its filing. Texas Secretary of State, UCC filings
Harris County courts dividing a business in a divorce apply Texas Family Code Section 7.009 when one spouse is found to have defrauded the community estate. Equipment values in those cases are tested under cross-examination, and the report is written to be defended there. Texas Family Code, Chapter 7
What documents do equipment appraisers need?
- An equipment list or depreciation schedule
- Make, model, serial number, year and hours or miles for each unit
- Photos of each machine, when the report is desktop
- The date the report is needed and who will read it
Where around Houston are appraisal services available?
Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston counties, including:
- Houston
- Pasadena
- Baytown
- Humble
- Channelview
- Deer Park
- La Porte
- Cypress
- Sugar Land
- Missouri City
- Rosenberg
- The Woodlands
- Conroe
- Pearland
- Angleton
- Lake Jackson
- Freeport
- Galveston
- Texas City
- League City
Machinery and equipment appraisals: common questions
How does salt air change the value of port equipment in Houston?
It shortens the remaining life. The report grades each unit’s condition from the photos and records, including corrosion on the frame, hydraulics and wiring, and estimates the useful life it has left. A machine that worked the wharf is then valued against sales of units in similar condition, not against every unit of its model year.
Why does API certification matter in an oilfield equipment appraisal?
Pressure control and well service equipment is bought and sold with its certification. When that certification has lapsed or the standard has changed, a buyer deducts the cost and time to recertify. The research note for the unit states the certification status found in the records and how it bore on the value, so a reviewer can see it apart from wear.
Can an appraisal help with a Harris County rendition or protest?
Yes. A report dated to January 1 gives unit-by-unit market values to render, and it can remove equipment that was sold or scrapped but is still on the district’s list. The same report supports a protest when the district’s value is higher than the market.
Do I need an on-site inspection in Houston?
Only when the reader requires one. Desktop reports from photos and records fit most files and cost less. SBA 504 files on used equipment bought from someone other than a dealer, or being refinanced, call for an on-site inspection, and we say so before work begins.
How is farm equipment near Houston valued?
By matching configuration. A combine equipped for rice in Fort Bend, Brazoria or Wharton County is valued against sales of machines set up the same way, with the sale date of each one on record.
Start your appraisal
Four questions about the equipment and the report you need. The flat fee and delivery date arrive by email.