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DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT AUTO APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, MAINE COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Vehicle Appraiser
CAGA Certified Appraiser since 2014, covering vehicles, boats, equipment, fine art, and collectibles. A classic-car restoration background informs her vehicle work, with reports prepared for insurance, divorce, and charitable contributions.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow appraises cars, pickups, work trucks, motorcycles, collector vehicles, and campers in Maine for total loss and diminished value disputes, vehicles given to a charity, probate filings, and divorce.
Insurance disputes
An offer resting on comparables that do not match the truck in the driveway moves only on evidence. We build the value from closed sales in the same spec and condition and show every adjustment we made, so the insurer can see where its own figure came apart.
Winter and wear
Corrosion, frame and underbody condition, plow mounts and other upfit equipment, and a documented repair history all move a value here, sometimes in opposite directions. A report that skips them is easy to argue with.
Estates and divorce
Both need a value as of a stated date with the standard named on the page. Where the same estate also holds tools, furniture, or collections, our Maine personal property appraisals cover them.
The same truck can carry three different values on the same day, so a Maine report starts by naming the question it was written to answer.
Which standard
An insurer settles on actual cash value. A probate court and the IRS want fair market value. A report that does not say which one it used, and as of when, is hard for anyone to rely on.
Which evidence
Published guides give a baseline. Closed sales of comparable vehicles, dealer listings, and auction results are what test it, and heavy trucks need references built for trucks rather than for family cars. Where the two disagree, the report says which it followed and why.
One Maine figure comes off a fixed schedule and has nothing to do with the market. The other decides how much of a vehicle is even on the table in a divorce.
Excise tax
24 to 4 mills
the Maine excise rate on a vehicle's original list price, from the first year of the model to the sixth and later years
Maine's annual motor vehicle excise tax is computed on the maker's list price rather than on what the vehicle is worth now: 24 mills on each dollar of that price in the first or current year of the model, then 17 1/2, 13 1/2, 10 and 6 1/2 mills, and 4 mills in the sixth and succeeding years. The minimum is $5 for a motor vehicle and $15 for a camper trailer other than a tent trailer.
Two exceptions change the base rather than the rate: trucks and truck tractors registered for more than 26,000 pounds from model year 1996 on, and buses from model year 2006 on, are taxed on the purchase price in the original year of title. None of those figures is market evidence, which is why a claim, an estate, or a sale needs a valuation of its own.
Divorce
Market forces
the kind of appreciation Maine leaves outside the marital estate when a vehicle was owned before the marriage
A Maine court sets apart to each spouse that spouse's own property and divides the marital property in the proportions it considers just. Property acquired by gift, bequest, devise or descent is not marital, and neither is the increase in value of property owned before the marriage where that increase came from market forces, or from reinvested income and capital gain that neither spouse took a substantial active role in managing.
Appreciation of another origin goes the other way. An increase that came from investing marital funds in the vehicle, or from marital labor, is in the marital estate, so a restoration paid for or carried out during the marriage changes the arithmetic. Dividing a collector vehicle in Maine therefore needs a value as at the marriage as well as a value today.
What Maine clients say we are known for
Across 22 published Maine appraisal reviews, every one from a client who paid AppraiseItNow for an appraisal, the three things they raise most often are how quickly we answer, how much research is visible in the report, and that they would hire us again.
My daughter had purchased a very collectible 2003 Mustang Cobra terminator just 3 months before her accident with 50,000 miles on it, for 30,000 dollars. We were experiencing some very heavy rains and she hydroplaned and smashed into a guard rail and totaled her car. The insurance company offered her $18,000, but we told them that was an insult to this car. We kept going round and round with them but they were not budging. Finally we googled an independent appraiser and found AppraiseItNow! Their appraised value was 26,462. They negotiated with the insurance for us and we ended up with 25,900. They were awesome and helped us get much closer to the appropriate value of the Cobra. Absolutely worth the price we paid. Highly recommended!
Car Appraisal for Insurance Claim
My wife and I purchased a property that included a double-wide mobile home, which we decided to donate to a local charitable organization that provides housing for low-income families. This type of donation required a formal appraisal to qualify for an IRS tax deduction, so we reached out to Appraise It Now. From the start, they were able to clearly answer all of our questions about both the appraisal process and the tax deduction requirements. We provided photos and additional details, and within 10 days we received a thorough, well-prepared report that included all the necessary IRS forms. I’m giving Appraise It Now a five-star review because communication was excellent throughout the entire process. Everyone I spoke with was helpful, friendly, and professional, and emails were always answered quickly. We were completely satisfied with the experience. Thank you!
Mobile Home Appraisal for Charitable Donation
These guys were phenomenal. Joe was very responsive and gave clear instructions on how to submit my information for the appraisal, which he completed in a very quick timeframe. The appraisal itself was extremely detailed and included a thorough explanation of how they arrived at the value. It came with extensive documentation, and it’s clear they did a significant amount of research. They were also very responsive through text and email and always available to answer any questions. I had them appraise my fifth-wheel RV for resale, and I highly recommend their services. I will definitely use them again.
Recreational Vehicle Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
They appraised an older trailer for me that required a bonded title. They were great with communication and it only took about 2 weeks to get a very nice detailed appraisal report, which finding comps for older trailers is not straight forward. Highly recommend!
Trailer Appraisal for Title Bond
Friendly, speedy service with fair value.
Auto Appraisal for Probate
We were amazed at their professionalism in working with us and the quality of the final appraisal report. And all for thousands less than other appraisers.
Tractor Appraisal for Charitable Donation
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
By triangulating a baseline from a truck valuation guide such as the NADA Commercial Truck Guide or Truck Blue Book against current listings for comparable year, make, model, and spec, then confirming with recent auction results. Mileage, engine and transmission, emissions equipment, and documented condition drive the adjustments.
Sometimes. Where the Secretary of State is not satisfied as to who owns a vehicle or whether there are undisclosed security interests, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles may register it but must either withhold the certificate of title until the applicant produces documents that settle the question, or require a surety bond. Under 29-A M.R.S. section 659 that bond is written in an amount equal to one and one half times the value of the vehicle as determined by the Secretary of State, and it is returned at the end of three years unless a claim against it is pending. The value of the vehicle is what sizes the bond, so establishing it is the first step.
Yes. Documented engine rebuilds, transmission replacements, and emission system work can materially raise the conclusion when properly substantiated, because they change how the truck compares to baseline guide values. Undocumented work, by contrast, cannot be credited in a defensible report.
Not usually. KBB is built for consumer vehicles and has limited coverage of heavy commercial trucks, which is why professional appraisers and commercial buyers rely on specialized references such as NADA's commercial truck guides and marketplaces like Truck Paper instead.
