Mark Finley, ARA, RPRA is a graduate of New Mexico State University with a double major in General Agriculture and Animal Science, receiving a B. S. Degree in 1965 and a M. S. Degree in 1967.
After graduation, Mark was employed by New Mexico State University Agricultural Experiment Station as a Livestock Research Technician at the Fort Stanton Experimental Ranch. Later, he moved to a Ranch Manager position with R. H. McAshan Ranches at Hope, New Mexico and managed three ranches encompassing 163 sections total. In 1971 Mark was employed by the U. S. D. A., Farmers Home Administration Farm as an Agricultural Management Specialist and managed large agricultural loan portfolios in New Mexico, and later Arkansas. He accepted a job as a District Agricultural Management specialist in Oregon in 1984, then moved to Arizona in 1986 as the Arizona State Farmer Program Loan Specialist. During his career with Farmers Home Administration, he provided appraisals and appraisal reviews of a wide variety of properties in New Mexico, Arkansas, Oregon, Idaho, and Arizona. In 1992 he served as Chief Appraiser in Arizona and Hawaii for Farm Service Agency with responsibilities for the overall appraisal program prior to retiring in 2002.
After joining the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) in 1987, Mark received his Accredited Rural Appraiser (ARA) designation in 1990 and his Real Property Review Appraiser (RPRA) designation in 1993. He is past president of the Arizona Chapter of the ASFMRA and has been Co-Chair of the National Accreditation Committee along with serving on the National Program and Appraisal Education Committees. Mark was a Certified Appraisal Instructor for the ASFMRA and was the course author for the A35, A360 and A390 Appraisal Review Courses. He is one of the authors of the appraisal textbook, Appraisal of Rural Property second edition, published by the Appraisal Institute and the ASFMRA.
His appraisal experience includes homes, farms, ranches, pecan groves, pistachio groves, vacant land, dairy facilities, poultry houses, forestry enterprises, state and federal grazing allotments, apartments, and rural commercial properties. He has qualified as an expert witness in Federal Bankruptcy courts in Portland, Oregon; Phoenix, Arizona; and Tucson, Arizona. His review experience includes reviews of appraisals completed for governmental agencies, private lenders, attorneys and the ASFMRA.
Mark has been in the independent fee appraisal business since 1996.