Horse appraisal is a fascinating blend of logic and art. Equine appraisers, unlike real estate appraisers, don't have the luxury of a regulated database that includes historic sales prices. Instead, we have to rely on the information available - however detailed or sparse. Here are the five primary ways Stier Horse Appraisal finds our equine market comps:
1. Sale/Auction Results
The USEF, AQHA, NRHA, and NCHA usually have a lot of available auction results for us to find market comparables; however, these auctions usually target very specific types of horses - usually prospects or broodmares. The growing popularity of other online auctions (like Pro Horse Services) are improving our ability to use auction results for other types of horses.
2. Sales Listings
Discipline or breed-specific sales website can be very helpful in determining the listing value of market comparables. We try to avoid "general" websites, such as dreamhorse.com and instead try to use more specific websites such as bigeq.com, reinersworld.com, or seriousinquiriesonlyequine.com (these are just a few). Those these websites are helpful in directing the listing price, we know that the actual sales price can very which is where our industry expertise helps guide the final Fair Market Value.
3. Social Media
Social media platforms like Facebook have tons of great information, usually in industry/discipline-specific groups. This are particularly helpful to find information for unique horses that have few market comps available.
5. Phone Calls
Sometimes, the best information can come from a conversation with a professional trainer or breeder in the industry or discipline related to the subject horse. Having been equine appraisers for over a decade, Stier Horse has great connections with top professionals in all industries that we can use for more niche horse appraisal comps.
Finding market comparables for horse appraisals is not always straight forward. Making sure your appraiser can take a custom approach based on your unique horse is key! No two horses are alike, and neither are our appraisals. For more information on find your horse's Fair Market Value, feel free to contact us and speak with one of our appraisers.