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Re-Capitalizing Your Club

"Keeping up" isn't simply a matter of whether or not improvements at your club are necessary. It's also a matter of how to pay for them.

Since few clubs have the cash on hand to pay for improvements, they need to consider the alternatives from among several options:

Assess the Membership
Re-finance with bank debt
Sell the club to a group of members
Sell the club to a for-profit owner

To read further, click HERE.

Hire an Appraisal Specialist?

Would you visit a dermatologist for a root canal? Would you engage an estate lawyer for litigation? Would you hire an electrical contractor to put a new roof on your house?

It doesn't make any sense but that's what happens every day when real estate appraisers with a high level of competence and experience in office buidings and shopping centers take on golf course assignments.

Just this week, I was retained by a golf course owner to testify in his tax assessment appeal case for which he, and the taxing authorities had hired other, non-specialist appraisers.

The issue was information on a relevant comparable sale transaction with which we at Golf Property Analysts were familiar and were able to separate fact from fiction. According to counsel, it made a difference.

The moral of the story is that when one hires a specialist, whether for an appraisal of a golf course, an office building or some other service, the likelihood of solving the problem is much greater than risking the education of someone with limited experience who hasn't "been there before".

E-Mail us for a Proposal

Golf Course Values

In the past week, I've been contacted by no less than 5 reporters for national publications about the value of golf course properties owned by presidential candidate, businessman and celebrity, Donald Trump. CNBC reporter Tim Mullaney penned the most widely circulated article on the topic and I though it appropriate to offer some clarification.

On being asked whether the value of 9 of the Trump properties could each be worth $50 million, I responded that I could only remember one appraisal we've done at that value level. Furthermore, I added (but it wasn't included in the article) that some of the Trump properties included hotels and other assets and that I was not familiar enough with the properties to opine on their individual and specific values. Further, I was quoted as saying that courses "are likely to sell at a level equal to their annual sales." This is not an accurate quote. What I said was that courses often sell based on multiples of their gross income and that the multiple can range from less than 1 for unprofitable courses to more than 3 or more for profitable properties.

While much of the article contains some accurate facts and legitamite valuation concepts, the article (entitled "Trump's $550 M golf empire may be in the weeds") is clearly intended to call into question the possibility that Mr. Trump has inflated his valuation of those properties. As appraisers, we are precluded from offering opinions of value without exercising the appraisal process as stipulated by the Uniform Standards of Appraisal Practice (USPAP). I (and the other SGA member interviewed for the article) declined to provide estimates of value. Mr. Mullaney, without clarification suggests that all golf courses should be valued at 1.4 times gross revenues. While this number represents an average of a survey, it may or may not be accurate for any given property.

What the value of Mr. Trump's courses has to do with his qualification to be President of the United States or his election appeal is beyond me, but the bigger issue here is that those in need of golf specific valuation services ensure that those valuations are done specific to each and every property and that the appraisals are done with independence and objectivity to be most useful.

GPA BROKERAGE SERVICES

GPA is currently marketing for sale the following properties:

Hopewell Valley Golf Club - Hopewell, NJ

Harbor Pines Golf Club - Atlantic City, NJ

Click on course name for a confidentiality agreement.

We can assist both private clubs and daily fee courses in developing exit strategies, preparation for sale and effective marketing of golf properties. We focus on the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US but have also done brokerage in FL and other states. We've brokered over $125 million in golf properties. Our appraisal and consulting practice has touched 45 states.

Ask about our golf property brokerage services.

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