Article

2012-13 Edition of USPAP Released
Effective Date: January 1st, 2012 - December 31st, 2013

The Appraisal Foundation, a congressionally-authorized nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of professional valuation, announced that the 2012-13 edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) has been released. USPAP is the generally accepted standards of practice for the appraisal profession in the USA.
 
The 2012-13 edition of USPAP will be valid for two years, from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013. As with the prior edition, the new edition
includes the standards of professional practice for all appraisal disciplines as well as guidance from the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) in the form of USPAP Advisory Opinions and USPAP Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  
 
Changes to the document include:
• Revisions to DEFINITIONS of “Client,” “Extraordinary Assumptions,” and “Hypothetical Condition,” as well as a new definition of “Exposure Time”;
• Creation of a new RECORD KEEPING RULE and related edits to the Conduct Section of the ETHICS RULE; 
• Revisions to Advisory Opinion 21, USPAP Compliance; and, 
• Revisions to STANDARDS 7 & 8: PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISAL, DEVELOPMENT & REPORTING.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO ON 2012-13 USPAP CHANGES

Copies of the 2012-13 edition of USPAP are now available for purchase from the Appraisal Foundation Store at 
www.appraisalfoundation.org. The 2012-13 edition of USPAP is available in printed spiral bound copy for $75 or as an electronic PDF download for $60.
   
In the coming weeks, USPAP will also be available in Flipbook format and for eReaders including the iPad, Kindle, Nook and the Sony Reader.

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Ask Henry

Dear Henry,
     If I lease some farmland to a farming family for 99 years, how do I calculate the value of this lease? Is it just a discounted cash flow plus the reversion of the land? Or does such a long lease typically include return on and return of capital and the reversion has no value? No buildings are involved in this deal. Thanks in advance for your help.

Don
apps1@compfxnet.com

Dear Don,     For all practical purposes, a 99 year lease is a sale. It is not the original lease date that counts ~ it is how long the lease has to run.  Some states prohibit leases longer than 99 years and others say they are the same as sales. Trying to discount income for 99 years into the future, and then trying to add the present value of a reversion 99 years in the future results in a meaningless figure. Should you consider global warming (aka climate change) or that the population of the world may be 10 billion people or may be zero?  Some appraisers take the position that some small number is needed to reflect the difference between such a lease and ownership.  My problem is that I don't know whether it should be a plus or minus adjustment.  In most condemnations I am familiar with, a very long lease is treated as a sale.

HSH
askhenryharrison@revmag.com