The Rogers Appraisal Group, Inc. is owned by Charles Rogers and is located at 3581 Cardinal Point Dr. in Mandarin.
WHAT DOES THE COMPANY DO?
It appraises commercial, industrial and multi-family properties as well as vacant tracts of land.
HOW LONG HAS COMPANY BEEN OPEN?
The group was formed in 1987.
WHO IS IN THE COMPANY?
Rogers is the president. Jim Gibson, Chad Rogers, Steve Moir, Roger Agne, Brad Kennelly and Steve Clark are senior appraisers. Donna Banks and Rosa Lee Troncalli are secretaries.
WHAT DOES
ROGERS DO?
“I manage the company, inspect all the properties that we appraise, coordinate with each appraiser the information used in each appraisal, review all the information in the appraisal and then review all the final documents that go to our clients.”
WHY ARE YOU
SO INVOLVED?
“You have to maintain quality control. When you are trying to give your customers a quality product in a timely manner for a reasonable fee, I believe that you have to be on top of most everything.”
HOW DID HE GET INTO APPRAISING?
He was an engineer who designed and built warehouses and systems to go in warehouses. “I had projects going in North Carolina, Georgia and Florida and I got tired of traveling. I had to order appraisals to sell our old sites that we had, so I got interested in appraising by reading those appraisals and selling those properties. I met a man named Earl Miller, who was an appraiser in town, and he gave me a job. I’m very grateful to him for that opportunity.”
SIZE OF OFFICE?
The office is medium sized compared to other appraisal offices in Jacksonville. Rogers said all of his employees get along very well and have been with him for a long time.
WHERE DOES THE COMPANY DO APPRAISALS?
They work mainly in a six county area including St. Johns, Clay, Putnam, Nassau, Duval and Baker counties. Some of the company’s appraisals take them out of the state.
INVOLVEMENT IN THE BETTER JACKSONVILLE PLAN?
“We have done appraisals for some of the road widenings and for some of the preservations land tracts that the City of Jacksonville is buying.” There are continuing assignments under the Better Jacksonville Plan, but they are done on a bid basis, so as each job comes about, the company has to bid for the job. “We are not the company that does them all, we have to bid on them, just like everybody else.”
EMINENT DOMAIN?
“The road widenings are classified as eminent domain and we do that for the City. We also do eminent domain for other agencies including the Navy, JEA, Jacksonville Transportation Authority and the City. “By law, if a property is needed for public use such as roads or electrical lines, the state can take the property but has to pay just compensation. We estimate the amount of money that is paid for their property and any money that is paid for damages to the remaining property.”
LOCATION OF
THE OFFICE?
“As president, I have it near my home to cut down on travel and it makes my day shorter.”
WHAT MAKES THE OFFICE DIFFERENT?
The fact that they do only commercial, multi-family, industrial and land appraisals and no residential.
WHY ONLY DO COMMERCIAL, MULTI-FAMILY, INDUSTRIAL AND LAND?
“We used to do residential and I used to have 17 employees, where now I only have nine. As things evolve and grow in the business, you look for that happy medium of what size company you want to have. You have to find what size you are comfortable with and what you want to appraise. It’s hard to appraise single family and other properties because of the differences in turn-around time frames that are demanded by your client. Single family appraisals usually have a shorter turn-around time frame where commercial, industrial and other properties have longer turn-around time frames. Doing both is very time consuming, demanding and the larger you get the worse it gets.”
REPUTATION?
“We look at ourselves as one of the top three firms in Jacksonville.”
TYPES OF PROPERTIES APPRAISED?
Shopping centers, apartments, industrial buildings, motels/hotels, high rise and suburban office buildings, manufacturing plants, mobile home parks and more.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO NEEDS A COMMERCIAL APPRAISAL?
“The state licenses appraisers, so that would be a good place to start. Make sure they are licensed. A client should look for references for quality of product. Depending on the size of the property, they should look for the Member of the Appraisal Institute [MAI] designation, which shows one’s proficiency in appraising large and valuable properties. Typically when a lender, which are some of our clients, looks for an appraiser, they look for that designation because they know you are educated, trained and qualified to do the type of properties that they are financing.”
WHAT DESIGNATIONS DOES ROGERS HAVE?
Rogers holds the MAI, SRPA and SRA designations.
PAST CLIENTS OF
THE FIRM?
Among them have been City of Jacksonville, State of Florida, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, BellSouth, AmSouth Bank, Florida Department of Transportation, Navy, Texaco, Shell Oil and Washington Mutual.
DOWNTOWN
“If the City, JTA or other government agencies needed appraisals, we are on their approved list. If they need an appraisal downtown, we are one of the companies they get a bid from.”
WHAT DIFFERENCES HAVE YOU NOTICED IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS THAT WOULD AFFECT THE PRICE?
“They have become so much more ornate and prestigious looking. It not only affects the price, but if affects the curb appeal.” He said the better looking a building, the more money people will pay for it.
DO YOU PLAN TO GROW THE OFFICE?
“No plans right now. We may take on one person, but we don’t plan to grow any larger.”
HOW IS BUSINESS?
“We are real busy. Typically what drives our business is interest rates. If interest rates are lower, people are refinancing or buying and selling property. So, as long the interest rates stay at 10 percent or under we stay pretty busy.”
RISING PRICES OF COMMERCIAL PROPERTY AND LAND IN JACKSONVILLE?
“It’s been a very active market especially since the stock market has had its problems. So, the investors now use real estate mainly to invest, so that has driven the prices higher.”
—by Michele Newbern Gillis