Sargent Consulting, Ltd. is the nom de plume of Steven Berg. Steven has been providing valuation and consulting services to lenders, attorneys and the general public since 1986. Steven's resume can be found by clicking on his name in the burgundy field at the left.

Steven is a member of the Appraisal Institute. The Appraisal Institute has more than 20,000 members and 103 chapters across the country. Members are professionals who have met stringent requirements and most exceed state licensing and certification for education and experience. Approximately 20% of all licensed or certified appraisers have earned the right to be called Appraisal Institute members. In fact, although roughly 700 appraisers are licensed to appraise real estate in New Hampshire, there are only six designated appraisers here in the Seacoast. The criteria to become a designated member includes verified experience, successful completion of advanced courses and a graded report documenting the individual's expertise with regard to all aspects of the appraisal process.

The Appraisal Institute has general appraisal members who hold the MAI designation and residential appraisal members who hold the SRA designation. The MAI designation is earned by appraisers who are experienced in the valuation and evaluation of commercial, industrial, residential and other types of properties, and who advise clients on real estate investment decisions. The SRA membership designation is earned by appraisers who are experienced in the valuation of single-family homes, townhouses, and residential income properties of up to and including four units. Steven holds both the MAI and SRA designations. The requirements for these designations can be found by clicking on the emblems at the left.

Steven has been providing advisory, valuation and litigation support services, full-time, since 1986. His experience includes most property types, concentrating in the New Hampshire Seacoast area. Services have been provided for a variety of uses. He also has extensive experience providing litigation support in civil and zoning issues, pretrial support, appraisal review and expert witness testimony. Lately, he has been specializing in testifying on matters that are alleged to cause a diminution in value. His clients include lenders, attorneys, litigants, property owners, buyers & government agencies.

Although Steven's is a general practice, he has appraised over 500,000 square feet of commercial space in Downtown Portsmouth in the past few years alone. He has applied this specialty to an annual survey of office space in Portsmouth and various regional market studies. Steven has completed over five hundred hours of professional education. These hours, combined with his local expertise, should make Sargent Consulting your first stop for your real estate valuation and consulting needs.

Steven and his wife, Cynthia, have lived in Portsmouth since 1988. In December of 2003 he was appointed by Governor Benson to serve on the New Hampshire Real Estate Appraiser Board. In August 2007 he became Chair. He serves on the Portsmouth Housing Endowment Fund Advisory Committee, the Portsmouth Economic Development Loan Program Committee and served for four years on Portsmouth's Zoning Board of Adjustment. Steve also works with the Housing Partnership's Workforce Coalition and an advisory committee to the City Assessor's Office. He has been active with the Kiwanis Club of Greater Portsmouth, the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce and the NH Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was a volunteer for the Seacoast Big Brothers Big Sisters of New Hampshire for six years. Currently, Steve also serves on the board of a group of volunteers bringing Exchange Cities to New England. The first, in Portsmouth, opened at the end of 2003. This nonprofit educational program hopes to serve 15,000 area 5th and 6th grade students per year.

Oh, in case you were wondering where the name "Sargent" comes from, Sarge was our German Shepherd Dog. He passed away in 1993, just a few months before we incorporated as Sargent Appraisal (we changed our name to Sargent Consulting in 1998 as it better reflects the scope of our services). The love of our life is now Gus, a Lab cross.