need help on an appraisal

[John Musselwhite]

At 12:54 AM 09/10/02 -0400, Wim wrote:

>For insurance purposes the piano is a 1915 model, that had some work done 
>to it. Even if that work was done perfectly, the fact is, it is still a 85 
>year old piano.

You say that as though it presents a particular problem. It may be 85, but 
it's a well-known and well-constructed modern instrument that is still in 
production. If the plate is intact and the case isn't rotting, insect 
damaged, waterlogged or dried to a crisp it should remain a viable 
instrument for another 85 years if it gets the proper care.

>For insurance purposes, I would put a 1915 S&S Model M's value at about 
>$7500.

$7,500 sounds more like the wholesale value of a carcass rather than an 
insurable amount for a playable piano and will leave them under-insured. 
Too many people find out too late that they are under-insured and when 
we're doing an evaluation for that purpose we have an obligation to make 
sure that doesn't happen.

There are about 300 Steinway grands advertised for sale on pianomart.com 
with a fair number of Ms so there are published figures to use as a 
comparison.  The cheapest of those model Ms appears to have an asking price 
of $12,900 with an average price of about $16,000. If the insured is to 
have any hope of finding a piano to replace their insured instrument the 
insured value should probably be closer to that range unless it's just a 
carcass.

Incidentally, when doing an insurance evaluation on a piano like this it 
might be wise to print out a few representative ones off the net that are 
for sale and either keep them on file or attach them to the evaluation for 
comparison so you have some support for your opinions.

Regards...

                 John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
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