Some appraisers have deep knowledge of theory and methodology. Others have intimate hands-on market or asset category experience. Rarely do you find someone who knows both from the inside — who has spent years behind the scenes of auctions, handling countless assets, and watching how value actually manifests through consummated sales, lot by lot, buyer by buyer, in real time. That is the foundation on which The Expert Appraisal Company was built.
The Expert Appraisal Company provides rigorous, USPAP-compliant personal property appraisal services to private clients, estates, attorneys, institutions, and museums nationwide. Our work spans a broad range of personal property categories — fine art, decorative arts, antiques, jewelry, collectibles, furniture and furnishings, equipment, and estate contents, which is grounded in extensive hands-on experience combined with advanced appraisal theory and methodology study.
Our appraisals are accurate, defensible, and highly customized for their intended use — whether that is estate settlement, insurance coverage, charitable donation, asset planning, equitable distribution, or litigation support. We understand that the clients who engage us often require work that will hold up to scrutiny. That standard is built into every report we produce.
Elizabeth’s path to personal property appraisal is not a straight line.
It begins, in a sense, before her career did. As a small child, she would sit with her father’s art history books, mesmerized by the works of the Old Masters — genuinely awed that human hands had made these works. That early fascination with artistic mastery never left her. It still shapes the way she looks at objects, understands quality and rarity, and ultimately, the way she appraises with a connoisseur’s eye.
She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in oil painting — a degree that was far more rigorous than its title suggests. Studio art at that level involved studying art history across centuries and cultures, as well as applied practice, including proportion and anatomy, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, jewelry making, installation, performance art, art critiquing, and more. It required developing both artistic skills and a trained eye — not just for recognizing what something is (medium, technique, period) but for assessing competency of execution. She simultaneously earned a degree in psychology — a discipline that informs, perhaps more than people expect, the work of understanding how people relate to objects, collections, and the process of valuation itself.
After college, Elizabeth spent time in social work and project management before a chance opportunity in 2018 brought her into the auction industry. It was, by her own account, an immediate and total fit. The auction house is where value is proven in real time — where market participants, transactional psychology, and rare object knowledge converge in a way no classroom or textbook can replicate. She immersed herself in it completely, and began pursuing her appraiser credentials in parallel almost immediately.
By 2021, she had launched her own appraisal practice — running it alongside her auction work, not after it. For years, both tracks ran simultaneously, each sharpening the other. The auction experience made her a better appraiser. The appraisal practice made her a sharper auction professional. That overlap is not incidental to her expertise — it is the source of it.
Today, Elizabeth holds the ISA CAPP designation — the Certified Appraiser of Personal Property credential issued by the International Society of Appraisers, and the highest credential the organization confers. She continues to consult with the auction house where her career began, serving as a guest auctioneer, contributing to catalog work, and supporting major appraisal projects — maintaining the live market connection that distinguishes her practice.
She works with clients nationwide, either remotely, or traveling for in-person inspections as assignments require, and brings to every engagement a breadth of category knowledge — across fine art, decorative arts, antiques, jewelry, collectibles, FF&E, and estate contents — that is the product of nearly a decade of simultaneous immersion in both the auction world and professional appraisal practice.
Personal property appraisal is an unregulated field where credentials vary widely, actual hands on experience and market knowledge varies more, and the consequences of an inaccurate or indefensible valuation can be significant. Clients engaging an appraiser for estate settlement, litigation, or a major insurance claim are not looking for a best guess by someone with vague knowledge — they need a valuation that is accurate, defensible, and prepared by someone who can stand behind it with authority.
That is what The Expert Appraisal Company exists to provide.
The Expert Appraisal Company is headquartered in Iowa and provides personal property appraisal services nationwide. To discuss an appraisal engagement, visit our Contact page or reach out directly to Elizabeth at elizabeth@expertappraisal.com.
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