ANY AUCTIONEER worth his salt will have gotten his application into Nama on Monday to have a chance of a slice of the lucrative valuation action that is coming.

Nama is seeking five valuation candidates from each province, and a further five to act nationally.

Clearly the odds are very much in favour of the big Dublin firms like Jones Lang, Savills, Lisney, DTZ and Colliers grabbing most of the business, but not so fast there. They'll face competition from large consortia of provincial auctioneers who have pooled their resources to win some of the business.

Nama has made it clear through its eight-page application form that only those with corporate or local authority valuation experience need apply. Each applicant was also asked to submit written references. It will be interesting to see how the selection process is played out, but more importantly how much the business will be worth.

Clearly candidates will be hoping that Nama will provide a steady income to make up for the woeful year that most have been having. However, the onus will be on the asset management agency to be seen to be getting good value for the taxpayer. Lucky for us, fees had been driven down considerably in the boom, because of intense competition between firms, so this should work in favour of the taxpayer. A not inconsiderable tranche of the business will have to go overseas - it's estimated that at least €25 billion of the debt is in UK property, with a further €3 billion tied up in US property.