Probity Appraisal Group

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~ Charitable contributions of fine or decorative art, antiques, furnishings and other estate contents.
~ Estate and gift tax appraisals
~ Insurance coverage and claim appraisals
~Equitable division and distribution of asset appraisals

10/02/2026

A week in Charlottesville: where business growth and sustainability meet

Our team spent last week in Charlottesville, meeting with tax clients and seeing firsthand why this region keeps drawing attention. It's a booming business economy, and it's also a community that takes sustainability seriously.

That combination shows up in our work. Alongside tax planning for growing businesses, we're seeing both residential and commercial deconstruction and decommissioning projects. Property owners are choosing to take buildings apart carefully rather than send them to the landfill. They're keeping valuable materials in circulation, supporting local nonprofits, and often capturing tax deductions (when applicable).

Both the City and the University of Virginia are setting the pace:

🏛️ City of Charlottesville

Community emissions are 40% below 2011 levels, against a goal of 45% by 2030
Municipal operations are down 41%
New High Performance Building Standards were adopted in 2026 for all city and school buildings
Fire Station 1 earned LEED Gold, the city's eighth LEED project
A new small business energy efficiency incentive program and expanded downtown EV charging
🎓 University of Virginia

Scope 1 and 2 emissions are down 44.5% since 2010, even after adding 3M+ square feet
Coal is being eliminated at the Main Heat Plant
A new $65M geothermal energy plant runs with zero combustion
$3.7M in utility savings in FY26 alone from building efficiency
90 LEED-certified projects, one of the largest portfolios in the country
The ReUSE Store has redistributed over one million pounds of furniture and goods, and campus trees are being milled into usable lumber
When a community grows and builds responsibly at the same time, it creates opportunity on both the financial and environmental side. That's exactly where we love to work.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed us last week. We'll be back soon! đź‘‹

We appraise a lot of donated building materials from the Northeast, partly because of its older building stock and the h...
09/21/2026

We appraise a lot of donated building materials from the Northeast, partly because of its older building stock and the high-value materials often found inside: antique lumber and brick, marble, granite, limestone, and other architectural elements.

But taxes also affect the economics of deconstruction.

A Tennessee donor with a 16% marginal federal rate might receive roughly 16 cents of tax benefit from an additional $1 of allowable charitable deduction. A New York donor with a 28% federal rate and approximately 9% state rate could potentially approach 37 cents, before applicable limitations. In New Jersey, the calculation changes again because the state does not offer individuals a comparable charitable contribution deduction.

That helps explain an imperfect system: the economics of saving the exact same materials can vary significantly based on where the donor lives, income, tax situation, whether they itemize, the FMV and basis of the property, and deconstruction costs.

For now, we work within that system by providing IRS Qualified Appraisals for donated building materials when the requirements are met.

Our larger hope is a deconstruction industry with a stronger labor force, smoother supply chain, greater demand for reclaimed materials, and an economic model where reuse increasingly makes sense on its own.

Until then, we will just keep valuing.

The secondary retail market has the potential for great gross margins, but the challenge is what remains after the costs...
09/21/2026

The secondary retail market has the potential for great gross margins, but the challenge is what remains after the costs of actually running the business.

Thrift retailers generally report gross margins of 30–50%, with apparel reaching 45–70%, yet net margins may ultimately be only 5–15%. Labor alone can consume 18–25% of revenue before rent, transportation, processing, utilities, insurance, storage, and equipment.

Our latest article looks at how omnichannel sales, pooled inventory, and faster turnover can change those economics. In one hypothetical example, increasing revenue from $1 million to $1.3 million while keeping core occupancy and labor costs relatively stable increases operating profit from $30,000 to $105,000. That is a 30% increase in revenue creating a 250% increase in operating profit.

Pooled inventory matters too. One reuse store may have six matching doors, another twelve, and another twenty-two. Individually, none can fill an order for forty. Together, they can.

And sometimes the economics are simple: if a family can find a great five-year-old Sub-Zero for $5,000 instead of buying a new one for $20,000, we should be making that choice easier.

That is where sustainability and economics meet, and where the secondary market has enormous room to grow.

Read our latest article, “Operating Leverage in the Secondary Retail Market” in comments

Back to Philly for some exciting reuse and tax projects for The Green Mission Inc., GM-ESG and MAS LLC this week!Tacklin...
09/21/2026

Back to Philly for some exciting reuse and tax projects for The Green Mission Inc., GM-ESG and MAS LLC this week!

Tackling this work with two of our incredible team members, our Director of Communications, Amy Bria, and our COO, Caroline Marschall.

And speaking of reuse, Amy just published the latest installment of her Past Meets Purpose series, this time taking us to Louisville, Kentucky, where historic buildings, adaptive reuse, sustainability, and even bourbon intersect.

From former factories and warehouses to churches and historic commercial buildings finding new life, Louisville offers some great examples of what we talk about every day at The Green Mission Inc.: the most sustainable material is often the one we already have.

Check out Amy’s latest article, Past Meets Purpose: Beyond Bourbon in Louisville!
..and yes, Amy does indeed have a black eye. She is a marathon runner who took a fall a few weeks back but we are grateful she is on the mend!

Read the full article in comments!

Jessica Irving Marschall

Fell In love with this treasure of a store. On our way out of Madison, WI to Milwaukee we stopped off in Wales, WI.I met...
09/20/2026

Fell In love with this treasure of a store.

On our way out of Madison, WI to Milwaukee we stopped off in Wales, WI.

I met with the owner who is a US vet who now operates this store with his family. They carefully curate the collection and have hundreds of square feet of extra storage space with additional inventory. All clothing is laundered and they have an excellent inventory system.

He kindly showed me the additional inventory in one of the storage areas.

And who else gets the literary King reference display?

As an IRS Qualified Appraiser and CPA I slightly freaked out at a few of my finds that are photographed.

So grateful for entrepreneurs like this who create secondary resale treasures like this!

Stay tuned next week for our latest research in the operating and profit margins for secondary retailers. Let’s keep pushing for the secondary market to become the primary for consumers!

Finders Keepers Jessica Irving Marschall

This powerhouse brilliant woman, Pepper Bethel, invited me to a meeting for the NOVA Small Business Resource Center. I s...
09/16/2026

This powerhouse brilliant woman, Pepper Bethel, invited me to a meeting for the NOVA Small Business Resource Center. I said, “I’m in. Can I bring my daughter?”

I walked into a room full of brilliant women whose businesses ranged from biomedical engineering and AI app creation, to doctors tackling inequality in teacher benefits, to a gourmet Turkish chef and baker, to a 69-year-old running businesses in both engineering and fine art. There was a student, a woman opening a sober living house, and a woman to my right who built, ran, and sold a manufacturing operation in an insanely expensive zip code and has a 5-year-old in her spare time.

Pepper, I do not know how you found and brought this group together, but I was HONORED to be included and wish I could have soaked up some of the brilliance from the brain cells in that room.

Pepper presented five pillars for women: Financial Confidence, Entrepreneurship & Business, Career & Leadership, Well-Being & Harmony, and Mentorship. She made a strong case that we need all five...I have only the first and am quite sure my F grade in the others will remain.

I brought my daughter so she could learn to be a better business leader than me as she finishes her MS in Accounting and prepares for the CPA exam.

I was never meant to own one business, much less four. I prefer sitting behind a screen (actually walking on a treadmill) working 12-15 hour days uninterrupted by human interaction. Give me complex tax models and tax policy on a weekend and my body actually relaxes.

While there may be zero hope for me and the Five Pillars, I hope my daughter can plow a better path forward as a woman in business.

Twenty-six years ago, I was forced to open my own practice because I dared to get pregnant at 24 while in grad school and working as an auditor. My maternity leave was four weeks unpaid. I took a midterm 12 hours after giving birth to #2. I took all sections of the CPA exam at once while my 6-month-old waited in the car with my mom because I wasn't allowed to stop and pump. Apparently, the baby might have slipped me the manual calculations for Dollar Value LIFO. I made $35k and after #2 daycare would be $18k.

Things are better for women CPAs now, but we still have a ways to go.

Here’s to women like Pepper who bring women together and insist on the success of ALL generations of women.

Love our Fredericksburg business community and 100% believe it is the professional and personal relationships that make ...
09/14/2026

Love our Fredericksburg business community and 100% believe it is the professional and personal relationships that make our region flourish.

One of my favorite local friends and colleagues is Susan Spears, President & CEO of the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber and Executive Director of Leadership Fredericksburg. She has spent more than two decades serving and strengthening our region. She joined the Chamber in 2004 and became President in 2010 and her work has focused on leadership development, strategic planning, governance, advocacy, coaching, and organizational management, along with extensive service on boards and community organizations throughout Virginia.

Susan and I have been working alongside each other in FXBG for over a decade. We share the belief that a strong business community is about more than economic growth, it is about creating a culture of kindness, collaboration, support, and genuine connection for the families and businesses that call this region home.

We live in a fast-paced region area (literally and figuratively with I-95 shooting right down the middle) with lots of families and businesses coming and going. We need long-term local businesses and organizations to continue rolling out the welcome mat to new businesses AND their families.

Here is to another decade working alongside Susan and building up our region and community!

Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce

Our offices will be closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.Labor Day was created to recognize the contributions Americ...
09/04/2026

Our offices will be closed Monday in observance of Labor Day.

Labor Day was created to recognize the contributions American workers have made to our communities, our economy, and the places we call home.

At Probity Appraisal Group, we see the value of that work every day — in the buildings people create, the materials they craft, and the properties and assets that reflect years of skill, investment, and effort.

This Labor Day, we celebrate the people behind the value.

As our companies continue to expand, I am always looking to build our local Fredericksburg professional bench. I recentl...
09/03/2026

As our companies continue to expand, I am always looking to build our local Fredericksburg professional bench. I recently had the opportunity to spend time with Chris Vormund and learn more about his State Farm practice.

I had absolutely no idea how extensive State Farm’s investment services were! Beyond insurance, their offerings include investment advisory services, brokerage mutual funds, 529 plans, annuities, and a range of small-business retirement plans, including 401(k)s, SIMPLE and SEP IRAs, and profit-sharing plans.

And here is my continuing plea to my business clients: please adequately insure the business you are working so hard to build. Review your General Liability, professional liability/E&O, umbrella, and industry-specific coverage regularly. As your revenue, employees, clients, contracts, and assets grow, your risk grows too. An LLC or corporation is not a substitute for proper insurance coverage.

It was great getting to know Chris and adding another local professional to our bench. And a big thank you to the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce for continuing to bring so many local professionals and business owners together. These relationships and connections are one of the best parts of being involved in our local business community.

Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce

Seven years ago, I opened The Green Mission Inc, followed shortly thereafter by Probity Appraisal Group and then GM-ESG....
09/01/2026

Seven years ago, I opened The Green Mission Inc, followed shortly thereafter by Probity Appraisal Group and then GM-ESG. And of course MAS LLC 26 years ago.

The best hiring decision I ever made was Jennie Lumpkin, who is now our CRO.

I run my companies differently than most. There is no talk of "market domination." We have no ad or marketing spend. We hire who we need and make sure they understand our work policies: no set hours, no vacation or sick days to count. You work when you can, around your personal and family schedule, and you just get things done. Health insurance is 100% paid by the company, because I like team members to be healthy and happy.

We do the work that comes to us and make sure it is done extremely thoroughly, quickly, and efficiently. The client who pays us $1,000 is treated exactly as well as the one paying us $10,000.

We have no mission statement or vision beyond this: study the tax code and appraisal research in excruciating detail, deliver top-notch services and deliverables to our clients, and get it done quickly, efficiently, and with seamless communication. That has been the recipe for organic growth. TGMI and Probity now produce 700 to 1,000 IRS Qualified Appraisals a year, GM-ESG has taken on significant corporate projects, and MAS LLC has grown to over 400 clients, all of whom we know by name and with whom I exercise unhealthy boundaries, like texting them tax advice at 1 a.m.

But the beauty of being a business owner is that I can shelve the corporate speak, decide the whole advertising and marketing game is not for me, and have a heck of a lot of fun in the process alongside leaders like Jennie, who shares my entire strategy: "Just get it done right and quickly."

And it is no coincidence that Jennie and I are both women >50. It is my opinion that women in the tax field are bestowed with superpowers at the age of 50 coupled with a removal of all filters and 100% loss of ability to deal with nonsense.

Address

375 White Oak Road
Fredericksburg, VA
22405

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