Perfection is Impossible? (or, what Taylor Swift can teach appraisers)
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Thursday, October 9, 2025 in Fine Art, Ask ISA
The Competency Rule of The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) says, “Perfection is impossible to attain, and competence does not require perfection.” USPAP’s Competency Rule requires appraisers to have the necessary knowledge and experience to perform a given appraisal assignment competently. While it doesn’t mean that an inconsequential typo will make an appraisal report unreliable, appraisers are a picky bunch: we aim for perfection.
Taylor Swift is another perfectionist and her new album The Life of a Showgirl reunites the pop star with Swedish hit maker Max Martin. Martin has co-written 27 No. 1 hits, second only to Paul McCartney, and he brings a microscopic attention to detail, with a background as a singer that helps him relate to the artists who look to him to refine their sound and create memorable melodies and choruses. Among his hits are Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone,” Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time,” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.”
English singer Gary Barlow told the Wall St. Journal on October 3 that Martin is effective because of his eye for detail, sharing that he’d spend hours on tiny bits of songs. “It wasn’t just about the four lines in the chorus. Every single line was important.”
An appraiser can certainly relate to this: every single line in an appraisal report is important, although most readers go straight to the value conclusion.
But also, Martin’s history as a singer informs his work just like most appraisers have learned the skill it takes to value and identify objects by years of careful study and practice. Barlow said on Martin, “The way he finishes notes, the way he slurs into notes, the way vowels sound, the choices of sounds he uses in the lyrics he writes – it’s just clever.”
Appraisers perform similar work behind the scenes in their appraisal reports: working with a client to help define the problem, identifying value characteristics of the property being appraised, and finding the right comparable sales or market offerings to support the value conclusion.
Still, even the most seasoned appraisers don’t know everything. Martin also seeks out collaborators and co-writers to help refine his hits, to make sure that they appeal to wide audiences just as appraisers often look to specialists and dealers to get a broader sense of a market.
Martin’s first collaboration with Swift was her Billboard Hot 100 number-one “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and he is a co-producer of The Life of a Showgirl alongside Swift. Their collaboration produces hits, with their shared eye towards making perfection with each song.
Appraisers don’t work alone. While all of us might not have a hit-maker like Max Martin in our corner, we all can strive for perfection and work with collaborators to make sure that our development is high-quality and our reporting gives clients “nothing but hits.” And if you make an inconsequential, minor mistake...just shake it off.
by Steve Roach, JD, ISA CAPP
ISA Instructor of Fine Art and AQB USPAP Instructor