Piano
Investment Analysis
by Karen E. Lile
Determining whether a piano
is a good investment is something done best in conjunction with an
consultant who has specific expertise in the piano marketplace. I am
going to share some analysis tools here in this section with those of you
who are considering the investment aspects of pianos. This subject
is vast, and I am only taking "snapshots" of a very small
portion of the subject. These snapshots, like a photographic image,
are two dimensional and only cover a certain time, place and
content. The real world of investments is three dimensional and only
inadequately captured in a series of snapshots.
Making good decisions in the
real world of investments requires access to local and National market
expertise, access to a comprehensive evaluation of a piano's condition and
potential (like example shown in Report R1.2
and R1.1).
Part of what I am about to
share with you a portion of the analysis I do on a routine basis before
making recommendations to people about how they can obtain the best
investment on a piano. Most people have various needs they are
trying to fill and investment value is only a factor they are
considering. Here are five scenarios: (the names are fictional and
each person's situation is a composite of several real life situations I
have encountered):
-
Sarah Lovelace has
inherited a 1916 Steinway O, 5'10" grand in satin ebony and wants
to know what to do with it. She might decide to keep the piano,
but realizes that it needs refinishing and possibly rebuilding. It
belonged to her grandmother and it has sentimental value to her. But,
before doing any upgrades, she needs to determine if the piano is
worth the upgrade. She also wants to decide if she will spend
her money on this piano, sell this piano and buy another, buy a new
car, go on a more elaborate vacation or do some remodeling to her
house.
-
Paul and Linda Hoeft are
deciding how much money they want to spend on a piano. Their
children are going to start piano lessons, but they don't know yet
whether it will work out. Both want the piano to inspire the children
to practice, make progress in their lessons and develop a "good
ear". Linda is interested in the way the piano looks in the
room. Paul is trying to decide whether to buy the least
expensive piano that will accomplish the purpose or to spend more
money and get an remarkable piano investment as well.
-
Mrs. Huxable has to sell
her 1961 Steinway O, 5'10" grand in satin ebony. Her
husband passed away recently and now no one is playing it. It
obviously needs work, but she doesn't know whether or not to sell the
piano in "as is" condition or to upgrade it and sell it
after the work is completed. She doesn't have to sell it
immediately, so she has some time to upgrade the piano if she chooses
to do so. She wants to see the piano go to a good home and to see it
appreciated. Selling the piano is somewhat of an emotional
decision. But, Mrs. Grover wants to make sure that she backs up
her decision with some sound thinking.
-
Michael Yu is a budding
15 year old pianist who has outgrown the family upright. He is
making tremendous progress in his piano playing. The teacher has
told Michael's parents, Michelle & Randy Yu, that it is time to
buy a good quality grand or he will not be able to progress
further. Neither Michelle or Randy play the piano
themselves. Michelle and Randy want their son to have an
excellent quality piano, but neither of them play the piano
themselves. They have taken Michael around with them to various
piano dealerships to play the piano's avaliable. The pianos that
Michael wants are all over $35,000. Randy doesn't want to spend
this type of money without knowing what the choices are.
Michelle is concerned about the having enough money to pay for
Michael's college. They both know that when Michael leaves home,
they will need to decide what to do with the piano. Will it go
with him or stay with them? They know that no matter what future
is in store for the piano, their decision today may affect Michael's
ability to develop his musical talents to their fullest
capacity. Michael is talking about music as a profession.
-
Edith Hanley is a piano
teacher. Her son has made sufficient income through his
profession to give her the gift of a fine piano. He gives her one
condition, she must make her choice and have the piano she wishes him
to buy delivered to her home within 30 days.
For the sake of keeping the
analysis simple, I am going to put some artificial limitations on the
above mentioned scenario. I have been a consultant for several
thousand buyers, sellers, owners and investors. In my sixteen years
of consulting, I have seen people choose to buy all types of pianos with
numerous variations in brand, size, color, style, touch, tone and
price. And although each person made a different choice, I felt that
the choices they made where right for their combination of values and
situations.
I could have approached this problem from many
angles. I decided to limit the
variables. I wanted to make my analysis simple enough to convey the
issues to you in a way that is easy to understand and doesn't take too
much of your time. In order to come up with this particular
analysis, I went through my records and chose five different sets of
people, all with varying values and circumstances, for whom I would have
had to do the same type of investment analysis.
I used the following tools
for my analysis of each of these five situations:
US Piano Market Comparison
on Steinway 5'10" Grands over 13 year period
Investment Value Comparison of two Steinway 5'10"
Grands
Comparison Chart - Four New & Used Steinway Grands
PFSS: Piano Finders Superior Standard on Scale of
6' Grand Pianos
R1.2 Piano
Inspection & Estimate and R1.1 Piano Values &
Upgrades Reports
Don't forget Touchweight
article for do it yourselfers... Probably put it in the Tech Talk part
of the website, under a Tech Talk folder, ie. pianofinders.com/techtalk/beginners/touchweight
|These are the decisions that each set of people made
after their consultation. Each of them considered the same set of
facts presented above:
-
Sarah Lovelace decided to hire Piano Finders to
perform the upgrades on her piano in stages over a period of several
years. Click here to see comparison
chart organized by Sarah's chosen priorities and why Sarah made this
decision.
-
Paul & Linda Hoeft decided to hire Piano Finders
to find and restore a Vintage Steinway for her.
Click here to see comparison chart
organized by the Hoeft's chosen priorities and why the Hoefts made this decision.
See Touchweight Instructions to see how they tested the various
actions of the pianos available to determine what their goal was.
-
Mrs. Huxtable decided to donate her piano to Building
Bridges.
Click here to see comparison chart
organized by Mrs. Huxtable's chosen priorities and why Mrs. Huxtable made this decision.
The Yu Family decided to
purchase a rebuilt and refinished Steinway Grand that was on a local
brokers showroom floor.
Click here to see comparison chart
organized by the Yu's chosen priorities and why the Yus made this decision.
Edith Hanley decided to
buy a new Steinway Grand.
Click here to see comparison chart
organized by Edith Hanley's chosen priorities and why Edith Hanley made this decision
I will include more analysis
on other types of piano choices in the future. If you have questions about
this particular analysis and want to send them to me, I will post your
question and my answer here on the website so that others may also
benefit.
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