About

Van Hazinga Appraisal & Consulting was founded in 2018 by Andrew Van Hazinga, an appraiser specializing in multi-family and seniors housing, with a focus on services-enriched properties. I primarily work in the New England region and hold general certifications in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, but have experience completing assignments across the country through reciprocal licensure.

Second Generation Appraiser

My father, George Van Hazinga, MAI was a respected general appraiser who worked across New England appraising a wide variety of property types. I was raised on family vacations interrupted by detours to photograph comparables and lectures about past assignments in every mill town we passed through. I cherish the opportunity to have learned how to be an appraiser from my father.  He taught me more than just how to collect data and write a report, but how to rely on impartial, sound judgment to ensure that your conclusions are reasonable and supported by the facts. I also learned that the only way to be successful was to work hard and never stop striving to improve.  While a report can be “good enough”, he taught me to ensure that every assignment I complete is better than the last.

Work History

After I graduated from Clark University with a bachelor’s in Government and International Relations, I had the opportunity to join my father at The Foster Company in Leominster, Massachusetts in 2003. At Fosters, I appraised many types of income-producing properties ranging from single-tenant industrial buildings to shopping plazas. I also gained experience with land valuation, including industrial and commercial parcels, residential lots, raw acreage, single-family subdivisions, multi-family developments, and low-utility parcels.

My experience at the Foster Company included the appraisal of many different types of special purpose properties, including religious institutions, educational facilities, and gas stations. I also completed appraisals for eminent domain projects in Boston, Springfield, Westfield, Somerset, Malden, and Lowell, Massachusetts. These assignments included before and after valuations, partial takings, and the acquisition of temporary and permanent easements. I also completed before and after appraisals of land proposed for Agricultural Preservation Restrictions and Conservation Restrictions.

In 2007, George left Fosters to work as an appraiser in London and I joined Health Care Valuation Advisors in Princeton, Massachusetts, later serving as Vice President. At HCVA, I concentrated on the appraisal of multi-family, senior housing, and health care properties, including skilled nursing facilities, elderly apartment complexes, and independent, assisted, and memory-care assisted living developments as well as the analysis of the feasibility of proposed projects. I used my experience in appraising seniors housing properties to develop the methodology for the valuation of services-enriched multi-family properties.

I formed Van Hazinga Appraisal & Consulting in 2018 in memory of my father. He joined me at HCVA when he returned from England, but sadly passed away in 2015 after we spent a day together inspecting nursing home comparables in Maine.

My mission is to provide high-quality appraisal services tailored to meet the individual needs of every client. I specialize in the appraisal of multi-family and seniors housing with a focus on services-enriched properties.

Public Service

Our communities depend on the residents who fill municipal boards to make important decisions that will affect the city for years to come and non-profit agencies would not be able to operate without volunteers willing to share their time and skills. Therefore, public service is a very important part of my professional life.

I have been active with NewVue Communities since 2008 and served on the Board of Directors from 2011 to 2019, including serving as President and Vice President. NewVue Communities is a regional community development corporation that creates healthy neighborhoods where residents want to live, work, and invest through economic and housing development, small business assistance, homeownership counseling, and community organizing.

In 2018 NewVue Communities launched the Liabilities to Assets program, a redevelopment corporation formed under Chapter 121A. This groundbreaking initiative uses existing statutes to acquire and renovate abandoned homes in five communities in North Central Massachusetts that are still suffering from the lingering effects of the foreclosure crisis. This pilot program serves as a model for future projects in other parts of the state. I have been a strong advocate for the development of this program and served as the President of the NewVue LTA Board of Directors.

I have also been an active volunteer for the City of Fitchburg. I served on the Fitchburg Planning Board from 2010 to 2020 evaluating development projects in the city. In 2018 I joined the Fitchburg Housing Authority Board of Commissioners to help oversee over 500 housing units in the city and in 2019 was appointed as a Director of the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority. I was elected as the City Councilor for Ward 4 in Fitchburg in 2019 and serve as the Chair of the Economic Development Committee.

My public service not only helps make my city and region a better place to live, but provides me with experience to be a better appraiser.