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TOPIC: Basics of Property Insurance. What Appraisers Need to Know.

As extreme weather events like the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires grow more frequent and severe, property insurance is becoming an increasingly critical concern for appraisers and property owners alike. In some cases, soaring insurance rates have rendered assets virtually uninsurable. This session explores how environmental due diligence and clear communication of value can help mitigate insurance risks and improve outcomes for clients.

Session Overview:

• Joseph Derhake, PE, will discuss the insurance crisis through the lens of recent climate-related disasters, including the L.A. fires. He will explain how due diligence data can be used to increase a property’s climate resilience and support better insurance outcomes. Attendees will learn practical strategies for assessing risk and mitigating environmental impacts in high-risk areas.
• Thomas Dawson, ASA, will introduce core insurance concepts relevant to personal property appraisers. His presentation will cover:
  • How to communicate the value of appraisal services for insurance purposes.
  • How to empower clients to ask the right questions when dealing with insurance agents.
  • The key roles and responsibilities in the insured-insurer relationship.
  • The claims process and how to support clients with real-world examples.
• Bryan Hill, CAC, will provide first-hand insight into the environmental impact of the L.A. fires and current approaches to mitigation. His extensive experience in wildfire response and disaster assessment will help attendees understand how appraisers can work alongside environmental experts in post-disaster scenarios.

Speakers:

Joseph Derhake, PE
Founder and CEO, Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.
Joseph Derhake has over 25 years of experience as a professional engineer and leader in environmental and engineering due diligence for commercial real estate. He has overseen thousands of transactions, investigations, and remediation projects, while contributing to policy development at major financial institutions. His background bridges technical, environmental, and financial considerations within the commercial property space.

Thomas Dawson, ASA
Appraiser and Insurance Specialist
Thomas Dawson brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of insurance and personal property appraisals. A certified commercial insurance specialist since 2016, he has quoted and managed thousands of policies covering homes, autos, fine art, musical instruments, manuscripts, and other collectibles. As an ASA-accredited appraiser since 2017, Dawson specializes in high-value personal property with a focus on musical instruments and music collections. He also has a background in music performance, production, and licensing.

Bryan Hill, CAC
Technical Director, Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.
Bryan Hill has over 20 years of experience in environmental consulting and industrial hygiene, including 15 years focused on wildfire response and post-disaster services. As a California Certified Asbestos Consultant, he specializes in indoor air quality, hazardous materials management, and environmental risk assessments related to climate disasters. His hands-on experience in wildfire zones brings a critical perspective to property assessment and recovery.

Combining the analytical processes of market analysis, highest and best use, and income valuation, this course is intended for those who have taken and passed the General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use course and have a thorough understanding of the mathematical and financial principles necessary to perform appraisals of income-producing properties. Building on the Level B marketability analyses that were applied in General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest & Best Use, you will perform Level C marketability analysis using fundamental analysis and study several real estate markets in a fictional city. You’ll explore the economic base of the fictional city, which serves as the subject and example of both physical and economic forces that affect all communities and consequently all real estate. You’ll also work through four case studies (apartment and condominium conversion, retail, industrial, and land with potential for mixed-use development) that demonstrate both the power of fundamental market analysis and its application to highest and best use decisions.

This fundamental review course that all reviewers of assignments involving income-producing and other nonresidential properties should have in their educational background. It is a required course for individuals pursuing the Appraisal Institute General Review Designation (AI-GRS, Appraisal Institute General Review Specialist). At the core of this course is the review process. Participants explore the seven steps outlined in this process as they apply to nonresidential properties. To be a reviewer, an appraiser must learn how to develop opinions of completeness, accuracy, adequacy, relevance, and reasonableness relative to the work under review. These opinions must be refined through tests of reasonableness to develop reconciled opinions of appropriateness and credibility. The material provides a refresher on key valuation skills often required of reviewers, such as measuring financial feasibility in highest and best use analysis and various applications of the income capitalization approach. In addition, the course covers reporting reviews for income-producing property and the use of commercial review report forms, narrative reports, and oral review reports. Participants will gain practice in writing a scope of work statement for three types of assignments. They will also develop a template for a narrative review report on a property type of their choice (office, retail, apartment, etc.). By taking this course, participants will gain invaluable confidence in the fundamentals of review through the review process, which is the core of this course. To be a reviewer, an appraiser must learn how to develop opinions of completeness, accuracy, adequacy, relevance, and reasonableness relative to the work under review. These opinions must be refined through tests of reasonableness in order to develop opinions of appropriateness and credibility. By taking this course, participants may gain invaluable confidence on the fundamentals of review.

This course synthesizes the three approaches to value, examines their applications, and helps you apply basic and advanced valuation techniques. Case studies teach you how to address common but complex appraisal issues, including a leased fee not at market rent, a proposed property, a property in a market not at equilibrium, and a subdivision. The course emphasizes the need to test the reasonableness of all the conclusions in an appraisal.

Note. This is primarily a synthesis course, not a review course. Like all advanced education courses sponsored by the Appraisal Institute, the course naturally reviews many concepts taught in previous courses. However, it includes some new material and does not include a complete overview of the other courses. Therefore, Advanced Concepts & Case Studies should not be considered an adequate review for the comprehensive exam. To prepare for the comprehensive exam, participants must review all four advanced education courses, as well as basic concepts from qualifying education for certified general real property appraisers.

Course Overview:

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) establishes a framework that appraisers use when developing an opinion of value. The valuation process is a systematic procedure an appraiser follows to provide answers to a client’s questions about real property value.1 It is a model that can be adapted to a wide variety of issues related to value, mass value, review, litigation support or consulting assignments.

The goal of the valuation process is to deliver well-researched and supportable conclusions. The Critical Thinking & Junk Science course includes both principles and case studies for the appraisal professional. The three approaches to value (cost, income and sales comparison), coupled with complex issues set forth in USPAP AO-9 (cost, use and risk effects) established a solid valuation framework.

Critical Thinking and Junk Science expands an appraiser’s professional skill set by focusing upon five topics within the context of real estate valuation:

1. Epistemologies. The academic community has long identified research methods to collect and build credible knowledge and are discussed within the context of valuation.

2. Critical Thinking. Appraisers must employ an objective analysis that allows them to form credible opinions, especially when involving complex or “atypical” properties and conditions.2

3. Logical Fallacies. Appraisers should avoid invalid or faulty reasoning. USPAP sets forth guidance on a variety of issues, and the Appraisal Institute sets forth many established methodologies.

4. Cognitive Bias. Appraisers should avoid any systematic pattern of deviation from rationality or established standards and ethics of the appraisal profession.

5. Junk Science. Appraisers should avoid unproven or untested tactics or theories when presenting an opinion of value. These tactics are explored, along with how to rebut them.