Ocala Equipment Appraisal
Ocala heavy equipment valuation for farms, trucking fleets and contractors. Starting at $295.
- USPAP-compliant
- CMEA, NEBB Institute
- Rated 5.0 on Google
Ocala equipment appraisal is a certified, written value for each piece of heavy equipment a Marion County owner has: farm tractors and hay equipment, bulldozers, wheel loaders, forklifts and semi trucks. A Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser (CMEA) examines the machines or their records, researches the market and prepares the report. Farm owners, trucking companies and contractors order one, and so do their banks and attorneys.
An Ocala equipment appraiser has to know which city a court file goes to. The federal district court sits in downtown Ocala, and Marion County bankruptcies are filed and heard in Jacksonville.
- Each machine is valued on a line of its own, under the serial number you send.
- Desktop appraisals are prepared from records and photos, so equipment split between Ocala, Belleview and Dunnellon stays where it is.
- An on-site inspection is added when a lender, an insurer or a court requires the equipment to be seen.
- A single farm tractor can be appraised, and so can a carrier’s whole fleet of trucks and trailers.
- The report states fair market value, orderly liquidation value or both, as your lender, your attorney or your insurer asks.
What are the steps to an equipment appraisal in Ocala?
Answer the form’s four questions
The form asks what the equipment is and roughly how many pieces, desktop or on-site and the town it is in, when you need the report, and a name and email for the quote. It takes no files.
Get the quote by email
The fee, fixed in advance, the scope of the work and the report date come back by email. Nothing starts until you accept.
Send the records and receive the report
After you accept, send the serial numbers, hours or miles and photos you have. One appraiser researches the market and writes the report, which gives each machine’s condition and value in as much detail as your records support.
What does an appraisal cost in Ocala, and which offices are involved?
- Values in the report
- Fair market value is the price an informed buyer and an informed seller agree on when neither is pressed to act. Orderly liquidation value is what the same machine brings when the owner has only a limited time to find a buyer.
- Fee
- Starting at $295. More machines, an inspection in person or a short deadline raises the fee, and the value reached has no bearing on it.
- Turnaround
- Same day quotes, sent by email with the date the report will be delivered.
- Appraisal standard
- A Certified Machinery and Equipment Appraiser writes the report to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), which lenders and courts expect appraisers to follow.
- SBA loans
- SBA is the U.S. Small Business Administration. Its North Florida District Office serves Marion County from its main office in Jacksonville. SBA North Florida District Office
- County tax on equipment
- Florida taxes a business’s equipment as tangible personal property, meaning movable property as opposed to land and buildings. A Marion County business reports its equipment each year to the Marion County Property Appraiser. Marion County Property Appraiser
Which questions sort out an appraiser for a Marion County file?
- Do they ask which court will read the report?
- A Marion County file can be read in more than one city, so the delivery date in the quote should fit the date set by the court, the lender or the trustee who will read it.
- How do they treat a price from the monthly auction?
- Weeks Auction Company sells consigned tractors, construction equipment, trucks and trailers at its yard on West State Road 40 on the second Friday of each month, in the yard and online. Ask how the appraiser uses a price from that sale.
- Do they ask which side of the Sumter County line the equipment is on?
- The Villages lies partly in Marion County and partly in Sumter County. An equipment list for a business there should give the county beside each machine, because the offices that handle a file differ by side.
What equipment is appraised in Ocala and Marion County?
An Ocala appraisal covers farm, trucking and construction equipment, one machine or a whole operation. Horses and livestock are not appraised. The tractors and hay equipment on a horse farm are.
- Tractors and farm equipment
- Semi trucks and trailers
- Forklifts
- Bulldozers
- Excavators
- Wheel loaders
- Skid steers and compact track loaders
- Dump trucks
What affects the value of equipment in Marion County?
Farm tractors and hay equipment
Ag-Pro sells new and used John Deere farm equipment from its Ocala store. The list should say whether a front loader comes with the tractor, and a mower or a baler is a machine of its own.
Semi trucks and trailers
FedEx, Chewy and AutoZone have distribution operations in Ocala’s commerce park at Interstate 75 and U.S. 27. Highway tractors are compared on mileage, drivetrain and maintenance history, and each trailer is a separate line.
Bulldozers, excavators and loaders
Auxiliary lanes are being added to Interstate 75 between State Road 44 in Wildwood and State Road 326 in Ocala. A value is as of one day, and a machine on highway work keeps adding hours, so each meter reading needs its date.
Forklifts and compact equipment
Ring Power, the Caterpillar dealer, has one Ocala branch for heavy equipment, forklifts and rentals and another for compact equipment. A forklift is compared on rated capacity, mast height, fuel type and hours, and a skid steer on hours, tires and the attachments sold with it.
How much do age and hours change what a farm tractor is worth?
Both tractors below sit in a single report written for a lender’s financing file. It was a desktop appraisal, so the hours are as supplied.
| Machine | Hours | Fair market value | Orderly liquidation value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Kubota M5040D tractor | 2,946 | $18,500 | $12,500 |
| 2012 Kubota M5040D tractor | 982 | $24,000 | $15,000 |
The 2012 tractor is three model years newer and shows 1,964 fewer hours. Its fair market value is $5,500 higher and its orderly liquidation value is $2,500 higher.
Who uses an equipment appraisal in Marion County?
Lenders. A bank that takes equipment as collateral, the property pledged to secure a loan, asks for an independent value before it lends. On an SBA loan to a Marion County business, the district office is the one in Jacksonville.
Trustees and bankruptcy counsel. Marion County is in the Jacksonville Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, whose hearings are held in Jacksonville, so a report on an Ocala business’s bankruptcy is read there.
Attorneys in civil and family matters. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida hears Marion County cases in its Ocala Division, in downtown Ocala. A divorce, an estate or a dispute between business partners goes to the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which has its main administrative offices in Ocala.
Owners. The Marion County Property Appraiser assesses business equipment from the return an owner files. An independent value is what an owner sets beside the county’s figure, and it also serves a sale, a partner buyout or an insurance schedule.
Where these rules come from
- Marion County Property Appraiser, tangible personal property forms
- SBA North Florida District Office
- Ocala Division, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Local Rule 1071-1, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida
- Sumter County Property Appraiser
What should I send for an Ocala appraisal?
Send these after you accept the quote, not before.
| Equipment | What to send | What it does to the value |
|---|---|---|
| Farm tractors and hay equipment | Make, model, serial number and hours for each tractor, and a line for every loader, mower and baler. | Hours move a tractor’s price, and each implement is valued as its own machine. |
| Semi trucks and trailers | The VIN (vehicle identification number), miles and engine of each truck, and the type and length of each trailer. | Miles and engine place a truck among comparable sales, and a trailer is priced by type and condition. |
| Bulldozers, excavators and loaders | Serial number, a dated hour reading, and photos of the undercarriage (the tracks, rollers and sprockets) or the tires, and of every attachment. | Undercarriage wear and attachments separate two machines of the same model and hours. |
| Forklifts | Rated capacity, mast height and fuel type from the data plate, and the meter hours. | Capacity and mast decide which sales a forklift is compared with. |
- Your equipment list, or the yearly list of assets and their costs that your accountant keeps for the business.
- Lease or rental papers for machinery you do not own outright.
- Any letter from a lender, attorney or insurer naming the value needed and whether an inspection is required.
Which Marion County cities and towns are covered?
The Ocala metro is Marion County alone, including:
Cities and towns
- Ocala
- Belleview
- Dunnellon
- McIntosh
- Reddick
- Silver Springs
- Silver Springs Shores
- Silver Springs Shores East
- Marion Oaks
- Ocklawaha
- On Top of the World
- Rainbow Springs
- Rainbow Lakes Estates
- Rainbow Park
- Ocala Estates
- Liberty Triangle
- Lake Kerr
- The Villages
Counties
- Marion County
Questions about equipment appraisal in Ocala
Can equipment on a job along Interstate 75 be appraised without a visit?
Yes, by desktop appraisal, from serial numbers, dated hour readings and photos. An on-site inspection is for a file whose lender, court or insurer requires one.
I own a horse farm. What can be appraised?
The equipment: tractors, loaders, mowers, hay balers, trailers and trucks. Horses, other livestock and the land are outside the work.
Is the price a machine brought at the Weeks auction its fair market value?
Not by itself. It is what bidders paid on one sale day, and a report names each value it states: fair market value, orderly liquidation value or both.
My business is in The Villages. Which offices apply?
That depends on the county. Equipment on the Marion side is reported to the Marion County Property Appraiser, and an SBA loan there comes under the Jacksonville office. Sumter County has a property appraiser of its own, and its SBA office is in Orlando. The federal courts and the state circuit are the same on both sides.
My farm equipment is fully written off on the books. Is it worth appraising?
Yes. Book value is an accounting figure, what remains after depreciation. A written-off tractor still has a market value, and that is the figure a loan, a sale or a division of property uses.
Get a quote for equipment in Ocala or anywhere in Marion County
Farm tractors, hay equipment, truck fleets and contractor machines, valued for lenders, attorneys and owners. Four answers bring a fixed-fee quote to your inbox.