Our Services
Bucklin Appraisal

Land Trusts and Non-Profit Organizations

Over the years of appraisal service, we have had a strong working relationship with individuals who wanted to make land donations to land trusts and with land trusts seeking local, state, and federal grants. We have passed muster from the most rigorous agencies while helping ...

   Land Trusts and Non-Profit Organizations

Over the years of appraisal service, we have had a strong working relationship with individuals who wanted to make land donations to land trusts, and with land trusts seeking local, state, and federal grants. We have passed muster from the most rigorous agencies while helping our clients fund their land or conservation restriction acquisitions. Years of land development experience help us establish the highest and best use of the property for a credible opinion of value.

The most notable land trusts we have worked with include the Coalition to Save Buzzards Bay and the Trustees of Reservations. For over ten years, we have worked for the Coalition as both an appraiser and a review appraiser. For more than twenty-five years, we have worked with local communities, private trusts, and conservation commissions to preserve open space.

We are proud to work for the Department of Interior to help conserve tribal lands.

The scope of our assignments was to value the infrastructure within reservations and wilderness properties. Over the years I have worked with tribal leaders and value their commitment to their heritage on Maine lands. Working for the Maine tribes is personally one of the most rewarding experiences I have as a real estate appraiser. 

Other than land trusts, non-profit organizations which have used our services include developers for affordable housing, social services, school districts, colleges and universities, and churches. Colleges and universities have included MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, Wheaton, and Dean.

One of our more recent appraisal assignments was to appraise the assemblage of multiple parcels to create a 127 + acre site for the regional Sanford High School. This particular assignment dealt with a variety of different types of land and environmental agencies.   

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Land Appraisals

Bucklin Appraisal specializes in land appraisals and serves both the public and private sectors. We have a large portfolio of appraisals that range inland area from several square feet to over 1,300 acres. The types of land use include mining, forestry, agriculture...

  Land Appraisals

Bucklin Appraisal specializes in land appraisals and serves both the public and private sectors. We have a large portfolio of appraisals that range in land area from several square feet to over 1,300 acres. The types of land uses include mining, forestry, agriculture, development, eminent domain, and conservation. Property rights appraised range from fee simple, leased-fee, and permanent and temporary easements.

Initially, most of our land appraisals were of subdivisions for single-family homes. Beyond the scope of the single-family market, we appraised land for affordable housing under Chapter 40B and multi-family residences. We have also appraised federal government lands, which include border crossings, radar and other military facilities, tribal, and forest lands. For state and local governments, we appraise highways and roadways, utility corridors, well sites, and conservation land. A large portion of our business has been in conservation restrictions for municipalities and non-profit land trusts, where we specialize in waterfront and agricultural land. Agricultural land appraisals have included cranberry bogs, blueberry fields, dairy farms, and wood lots.

One of the most interesting challenges of land appraisal assignments is the valuation of property rights, whether it is to appraise easements within easements, riparian rights, and severance damages. This appraisal work requires careful and thorough analysis so that it can be defended successfully through the legal process. Usually we work with an attorney and an engineer; we find the team approach is the best to solve complex appraisal problems.

A specific example of an appraisal involving an easement within an easement was done for a gas utility company that needed to install a gas line within the electric utility corridor. The electric company had an easement over a private-owner’s property, which was at ground level. The gas company’s easement was a subterranean easement. The challenge was the value of the easement within the easement for the property owner.

In another appraisal assignment, the gas utility company had to run a gas line in the bedrock of a saltwater cove. Property owners affected by this gas line included the city as well as private individuals. The scope of the assignment was to estimate the easement value within the riparian rights.

An example of working in a team occurred when a metro-Boston town needed to enlarge a utility footprint on land controlled by the Army Corp of Engineers. Our team was able to successfully remediate the stringent requirements of the Army Corp and earn unanimous approval from the community.

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Bucklin Appraisal
Bucklin Appraisal

Interesting Properties

Beyond the usual assignments we conducted for commercial lenders, we have been fortunate to appraise many interesting properties. These include airports, drive-in theaters, golf courses, dairy plants, major urban developments, historic sites, churches, and a home for “This Old...

Interesting Properties

Beyond the usual assignments we conducted for commercial lenders, we have been fortunate to appraise many interesting properties. These include airports, drive-in theaters, golf courses, dairy plants, major urban developments, historic sites, churches, and a home for “This Old House” program.

The two airports we appraised were in Massachusetts and were appraised for two brothers who were former Viet Nam vets. One airport is now closed and the other airport is a FBO (fixed base operation) still in use.

Both drive-in theaters were located in Central Massachusetts. One theater was razed and developed as a single-family residence. The other theater is one of two drive-ins in the state and still thrives as a retro 50’s institution.

During Tiger Woods rise in popularity, we did a number of golf courses from Cape Cod to Western Massachusetts. Belmont Country Club is one of the oldest golf courses in the country.

Both my grandfathers were Maine dairy farmers and I welcome appraisal assignments related to the dairy industry. We appraised the Garelick Farms Plant in Franklin, Massachusetts and two additional ice cream plants, one in Massachusetts and one in Maine.

The largest urban development that we appraised was Charles River Park located in the West End of Boston adjacent to Mass General Hospital. It consists of apartments, condominiums, one hotel, parking garage, offices and retail space. Built in 1964, it continues to be one of the prime properties in the City of Boston.

We have appraised a number of churches and synagogues in our career. Two of the oldest churches we appraised were the Byfield Parish Church built in 1702 and Old North Church, which is now a national monument. Old North Church was built in 1722 and is well known for being the launching point for Paul Revere’s ride in the American Revolution “one if by land and two if by sea”. We continue to look forward to working with clients on unique and challenging projects.

The “This Old House” project was located in Milton, MA. Our assignment was to analyze the market and estimate the value of the property once completed. We worked on the PBS TV set and were involved in touring the neighborhood by helicopter. It was fun working with TV “celebrities” and “This Old House” magazine.

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Litigation

We have offered expert testimony in court for over forty years. I relish the opportunity to go before the court to defend my value. Unfortunately, most of my litigation appraisals are settled before they go to court in our favor. For the few that were litigated, we were...

Litigation

We have offered expert testimony in court for over forty years. I relish the opportunity to go before the court to defend my value. Unfortunately, most of my litigation appraisals are settled before they go to court in our favor. For the few that were litigated, we were successful for our client the majority of the time. In smaller cases, attorneys on both sides will use us as their appraiser.

In preparation, the scope of our appraisals is to know thoroughly the physical features of the  property, the legal rights, and the market’s historical, current, and projected events. Personal interviews of local authorities, developers, sellers, buyers, bankers, and brokers are the keystone to developing a defendable appraisal. Having the ability to communicate an appraisal under the rigors of cross-examination requires skill that comes from extensive experience in the real estate industry and public speaking. My expert testimony has been given to hearing boards, probate and superior courts, bankruptcy courts, appellate tax boards, and the US District Court.

Our highest profile case was in the US District Court where we represented station dealers against a major oil company. The court found in our favor and the initial damages awarded were in the neighborhood of $10,000,000. This case involved multiple dealers who had been abused by a major corporation.

In Superior Court, our client was a national developer who was sued by an abutter who wanted to prevent the development of 100 + units. Our research in the community and region proved that there was no impact on the owner’s property, and our client won their case.

At an appellate tax board, our client was a local developer over assessed by the community. We were able to prove that the assessor could not provide sufficient data or analysis to support his assessment and our client was able to prove fair market value to reduce his assessment.  

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Bucklin Appraisal
Bucklin Appraisal

Commercial and Industrial Properties

Our experience in appraising commercial and industrial properties extends over forty years. Our commercial appraisal assignments have included strip malls, restaurants, inns, hotels, gas stations, auto dealerships, and office buildings. The appraisal of strip malls required the ...

        Commercial and Industrial Properties    

Our experience in appraising commercial and industrial properties extends over forty years. Our commercial appraisal assignments have included strip malls, restaurants, inns, hotels, gas stations, auto dealerships, and office buildings.

The appraisal of strip malls required the analysis of leases, market rents, vacancy rates and competition from competing malls. This particular discipline requires the analysis of demographics and infrastructure.

Beyond the physical features of restaurants i.e. location, building size, site, parking and quality; there other economic units that must be considered. These items include FF & E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment) and intangible assets such as brand names etc.

Inns and hotels are valued based upon income, physical features and competing facilities. Most inn owners pay close attention to their competition to be competitive. This product has required us as appraisers to immerse ourselves into the industry to understand the economic forces that drive the property value.

Even though gas stations tend to be small commercial properties; they do have their complexities to appraise.  The appraisal of gas stations is divided into the appraisal of the site, building and fuel equipment. It has been my experience that fuel equipment may be overlooked by inexperienced appraisers. Yet in some cases fuel equipment may have a higher value than the building value.

We have appraised numerous auto dealerships over the years in multiple states. Our appraisal assignments included existing and new dealerships and the appraisal of dealerships sites for highway expansion.

Our appraisal of office buildings has run the gamut from Class A to Class C buildings in urban and suburban communities. Our clients included local and regional lenders and the federal government. 

We have appraised industrial properties in both Massachusetts and Maine. Most of these buildings ranged in size from 20,000 to 40,000 SF. The larger industrial buildings that we appraised ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 SF.

20,000 to 40,000 SF. The larger industrial buildings that we appraised ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 SF.

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