San Diego machinery and equipment appraisals.
Lukes & Lukes is an independent machinery and equipment appraisal firm that serves San Diego County the way a lender needs it served, without paying a Southern California premium for it. We are not a local shop, and here that works in your favor. Our all-in quote, travel included, frequently comes in under what a San Diego appraiser would charge for the exact same USPAP-compliant, defensible report.
Why bring in an out-of-market firm
San Diego rates are the problem. We are the fix.
Appraisal fees along the coast run high because coastal overhead runs high, and San Diego is no exception. When the equipment behind a loan, an estate or a dispute sits in Sorrento Valley, Carlsbad, Otay Mesa or up in Escondido, there is no reason to pay a Southern California rate to get a number that holds. We build our pricing on Midwest overhead and quote it all in, travel included, and it routinely comes in below a local bid for the same report.
When a job earns the trip, we fly in and inspect the assets ourselves. When it does not, we send a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already working San Diego County to handle the inspection, and we write and sign the report to USPAP. Either path gives you one standard, one report format, and a value that survives credit review and stands up with examiners.
What San Diego County runs on
- Biotech, life sciences and laboratory: the genomics labs, research benches and diagnostics floors that make the Torrey Pines corridor one of the country's densest life-science clusters.
- Medical device: the device makers, cleanroom lines and precision assembly that grew up alongside the region's research base.
- Craft brewing: the brewhouses, fermentation cellars and canning lines that turned San Diego into a national beer town.
- Aerospace, defense and precision machining: the machine shops and tooling suppliers that feed the region's aerospace and defense contractors.
- Food processing: the commissaries, produce packers and specialty-food lines spread across the county and the border corridor.
- Construction: the yellow-iron fleets, cranes and yard equipment behind the region's steady building activity.
- Automotive: dealership service departments, collision centers and fleets across the county.
The biotech corridor
Life sciences are the anchor.
The Torrey Pines and Sorrento Valley corridor is one of the densest life-science clusters in the country, and the equipment behind it, from analytical instruments and sequencers to cleanroom fabrication lines and cold-chain logistics, carries values that depend heavily on technology generation, software licenses and whether OEM service contracts convey.
A mass spectrometer or a flow cytometer from a current platform retains value well; the same instrument one generation behind trades at a meaningful discount even if the condition is excellent. We separate the hardware value from the license and support contract because buyers do the same.
San Diego's biotech community also generates a steady stream of asset events: practice transitions, startup wind-downs, lab expansions, and lender collateral reviews on equipment-backed credit lines. Each of those situations calls for a specific premise of value, and the right premise on a lab full of analytical instruments is not the same as the right premise on a manufacturing floor. We confirm the purpose, the premise and the intended user before any inspection begins. See laboratory and diagnostics equipment.
Desktop or on-site
Not every job needs a plane ticket.
For a single asset or a well-documented equipment list with serial numbers, photographs and condition notes already in hand, a desktop appraisal can close the file without a site visit, which keeps the fee and the turnaround tight.
When the asset count is large, the condition has to be verified, or the report will face legal or regulatory scrutiny, an on-site inspection is the right call. We make the recommendation at intake rather than defaulting to the most expensive option, and either path produces the same USPAP-compliant, defensible report. See how the process works.
How we cover San Diego
The city, the South Bay, and out to North County.
We inspect on site across the city of San Diego, down through Chula Vista and the South Bay, out to Carlsbad and the coast, and up into Escondido and the rest of North County. When the calendar or the fee calls for it, a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already covering the county handles the physical inspection and we prepare and sign the report. For single assets or well-documented equipment lists, a desktop appraisal can close the file without a site visit at all.
Which value applies
The right premise for the situation.
The same equipment carries different numbers depending on why you need the appraisal. We determine and defend the premise your situation requires.
Common questions
Answers, up front.
You are not based in San Diego. Why is that better?
Because San Diego appraisal rates carry San Diego overhead. We are an independent nationwide firm that prices on Midwest overhead and quotes all in, with travel included. For the same USPAP-compliant report, our number often comes in under a local San Diego bid.
Who inspects the equipment in San Diego County?
When a job justifies the trip, we travel in and inspect it ourselves. When it does not, we deploy a certified machinery and equipment appraiser already on the ground in San Diego County to perform the inspection, and we prepare and sign the USPAP-compliant report. You get one appraiser of record and one standard either way.
Will San Diego lenders and the SBA accept your reports?
Yes. Reports are USPAP-compliant, prepared by a NEBB-certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser (CMEA), and built to withstand lender, SBA, IRS, audit and legal review anywhere in the country.
Can you cover collateral outside the county too?
Yes. The firm works nationwide. A San Diego lender or attorney with equipment in several states can keep one appraiser, one standard and one report format across the whole portfolio.
Do you charge separately for travel to San Diego?
No. Travel is inside the quoted fee, including the drive down from Los Angeles when one trip covers both. A San Diego assignment carries no separate mileage, airfare or per diem charge.
Can you appraise biotech and life-science laboratory equipment?
Yes. We value analytical instruments, sequencers, cleanroom fabrication lines, imaging systems, cold-chain and process equipment across the Torrey Pines and Sorrento Valley corridor and beyond. Technology generation, software licenses and OEM service contracts are separated because they drive the buyer's decision and the secondary-market price.
When does a desktop appraisal make sense instead of an on-site inspection?
When the asset count is small and the owner or lender already has serial numbers, photographs and condition notes, a desktop appraisal produces the same USPAP-compliant report without a site visit, at a lower fee and a faster turnaround. We make the recommendation at intake based on the scope, the asset type and the intended use of the report.
More markets
We also serve Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area and Dallas-Fort Worth, and the rest of the country from our Minnesota base. See all markets we serve.
Ready when you are