How Much Does a Commercial Appraisal Cost in Ontario?

A commercial appraisal is a professional service billed for the work it takes, the way a lawyer's opinion or an engineer's report is. The appraiser inspects the property, collects and verifies the evidence (sales, leases, operating statements, construction costs, zoning), applies the approaches to value that fit the property, writes a report that a lender's credit committee, a tribunal or a buyer's lawyer will read line by line, and has it reviewed by a second AACI-designated appraiser before signing. The fee is never a percentage of the value and never depends on the result; CUSPAP forbids a fee that is contingent on the value reported, because such a fee would make the opinion worthless.

1. Property type. Vacant land or a single-tenant building takes less analysis than a multi-tenant plaza, an apartment building with a rent roll, a farm with several land classes, or a special-purpose building with no sales to compare.
2. Size and tenancy. Every lease has to be read and reflected; every unit, building or parcel adds inspection and analysis time.
3. Purpose and intended users. A refinance report for one lender is the base case. A report that must withstand cross-examination at the Assessment Review Board, an arbitration or a court, or that several parties will rely on, is written to a wider scope and costs more.
4. Effective date. A value as of today uses current evidence. A retrospective value, for an estate, a capital-gains filing or a tax appeal to January 1, 2016, means rebuilding the market as it stood on that date.
5. Deadline. Standard delivery is usually 5–10 business days after the site visit. A tighter deadline is quoted case by case; it is not always possible, and it is never free.

The second assignment costs several times the first, and no rate card can price both honestly. That is why the quote comes after the details, not before.

The site visit, all research and verification, the analysis under every approach that applies, the written report, the second appraiser's review, the signed certification under CUSPAP, and delivery to the users named in the report. Not included unless quoted: testimony at a hearing, an update to a new effective date, a second report addressed to a different lender (a reliance letter is usually the cheaper route), and travel beyond our service area.

Send these six things through the quote form and you get a fixed fee and a delivery date in writing:

1. The property address.
2. The property type and approximate size or unit count.
3. Who will rely on the report: lender, borrower, lawyer, court, estate, internal.
4. The purpose: financing, purchase or sale, tax appeal, estate, litigation, insurance.
5. Current value, or value at a past date, and which date.
6. Your deadline.

The number quoted is the number you pay.

A house appraisal compares the house with a handful of recent sales on a standard form, often within a day. A commercial appraisal values an income stream: rents, costs, vacancy, lease terms and capitalisation rates all have to be evidenced, and the report is a narrative document a credit committee or a tribunal reads line by line. The property is usually worth more, the money depending on the number is larger, and the standard the report is held to is higher. That is the difference in the fee.