How to Get Antique Furniture appraised?
Families acquire furniture and furnishings throughout lifetimes and sometimes through generations, some is purchased and some may be inherited. However it came to be in a household these antique items have value. In order to discover the true value of the pieces, you can obtain an appraisal from a professional antique appraiser.
While hidden treasures are uncommon, once an appraiser evaluates an antique, you may discover that the antique painting, desk or other item you acquired for a good deal or inherited from a family member is worth many times more than you thought.
Reasons for Antique Furniture and Furnishings Appraisals
Know What It’s Worth
Individuals and dealers alike who want to sell antique items should first learn the fair market value. Fair market value is the most common price paid by a knowledgeable buyer when the seller also knows what the item is really worth. It is not the highest price ever paid, nor is it the lowest but it is the fair price for the item. Antique appraisers will take specific characteristics into consideration when determining fair market value such as condition, age, rarity, origin, maker, style and provenance.
Protect Your Valuables
If you or your family has built a collection of antique furniture and furnishings, you will want to have them insured against loss or damage. Insurance companies require that formal appraisals be submitted which catalogue the items and provide retail replacement values for them. Retail replacement value is the price you would have to pay to replace the item when you go to the most common market for it. The appraisal will consist of the professional antique appraiser’s examination of the items, or in the case of a loss, all documentation, photos and receipts which assist in determining what the item was worth prior to loss.
Distribute or Settle an Estate
In some cases, estates are liquidated in order to pay off debts or satisfy other demands, such as equal distribution of value as prescribed in a will or trust, divorce settlement or business dissolution. In order to ensure that the full value of sold, auctioned, or divided items is received, an antique appraisal is completed on all items of interest. In other cases, old and valuable furnishings are passed on to heirs and these inheritances often require documentation of total estate value from an antique appraiser to be submitted to probate or the IRS.
