Questions People Ask Before Hiring an Appraiser

An appraisal is an opinion of value developed by a licensed appraiser who visits the property and supports the conclusion with market evidence. A Zillow estimate is generated by a computer from public records, with no one visiting the property. No court, tax board, or attorney will accept an automated estimate as evidence.

The model doesn't know the house was renovated, that the basement floods, or that the deck was torn off. It also can't explain its reasoning, which is the part that matters when someone challenges the number.

No, and the difference is who has a stake in the outcome. A real estate appraiser is a disinterested third party with no financial interest in what the number turns out to be. A real estate agent is an interested party — the agent's compensation depends on the transaction happening and, usually, on the price.

A comparative market analysis is a pricing tool prepared by someone working toward a sale. An appraisal is an independent opinion of value developed under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, which requires impartiality and requires the appraiser to say so in writing.

I don't prepare CMAs. I prepare pre-listing appraisals, which is a different product from a different position.

No. An appraisal determines market value. A home inspection evaluates physical condition and systems — whether the furnace will last, whether the roof leaks.

I note condition as it affects value, but I'm not inspecting the mechanicals. If you're buying, you want both.

Because appraisal is judgment applied to evidence, not arithmetic. Two competent appraisers can select different comparable sales and reach different conclusions, and both can be defensible.

The question worth asking isn't which number is higher. It's which report explains itself better.

The inspection itself typically runs 30 to 60 minutes for an average home. Delivery of the finished report generally runs 24 to 48 hours for a straightforward single-family property, and up to a week or two for complex properties and assignments.

Complexity is what drives the difference — acreage, unusual improvements, limited comparable data, retrospective effective dates, and anything that will be scrutinized by a third party all take longer to support properly. I'll tell you the expected timeline when I quote the assignment.

The trip still costs time, so a trip charge applies — an additional fee when I arrive and cannot access the property as scheduled.

It's avoidable. Confirm the appointment, make sure whoever holds the key or the gate code knows I'm coming, and secure any pets. If something changes, call me before I'm on the road rather than after.

I report it. Any area I couldn't inspect is disclosed in the report along with what I assumed about it, and that disclosure affects how much weight the conclusion can carry.

It's always better to reschedule than to have me guess.

For most assignments, yes. Interior condition, layout, quality of finish, and updating all affect value, and I can't report on what I haven't seen.

There are assignments where an exterior-only or desktop analysis is appropriate. That's decided at the start, disclosed in the report, and it changes what the report can be used for.

No. A tidy house isn't worth more than an untidy one, and I'm reporting the property as it exists. Skip the staging.

What actually helps is access — every room, attic access, crawlspace or basement, garage, outbuildings. Secure any pets. If there's a gate code or a locked room, tell me beforehand.

Generally no — and for divorce, estate, or tax appeal work, definitely not. Those assignments value the property as it stands on a specific date. Spending money to move the number is backward and, depending on the assignment, a problem.

Pre-listing is the one case where it's worth a conversation first.

Yes, and it helps. You know things about the property that aren't visible and aren't in the records — what was permitted, what was replaced, what a previous owner did.

If you can't be there, a note in advance works just as well.

A list of improvements with rough dates and costs, any permits, a survey or plat if you have one, and a prior appraisal if one exists. None of it is required.

All of it saves time and occasionally catches something the records missed — an addition that was permitted but never picked up by the county, for example.

It depends on the property and the assignment — size, complexity, distance, whether the value date is current or retrospective, and whether the report needs to support testimony. I quote each assignment after I understand what's involved.

I don't post a price because a posted price would be wrong about half the time, and the half it's wrong about are the assignments people actually call me for. Send the request form or call and you'll have a number quickly.

Georgia licenses are searchable through the Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board, and every certified appraiser in the country appears on the ASC National Registry, which is free and public.

Look me up. Look up anyone you're considering hiring.

Ask whether they've done your specific type of assignment and how many. Ask whether they've been deposed or testified. Ask whether they'll personally perform the inspection. Ask what the effective date of value will be and why.

And ask whether the fee depends in any way on the outcome. That answer should be an immediate no.

No. I can't accept an assignment where the fee or the engagement depends on reaching a particular number, and I won't take direction on the conclusion.

That restriction is what makes the report worth having. A number that can be influenced is a number the other side can dismiss.

The client who engaged me. The report is prepared for that client and the intended users named in it, and it shouldn't be relied on by anyone else.

If you need someone additional to be able to rely on it — an attorney, a CPA, a court — say so at the start. That has to be built into the assignment, not added afterward.

Sometimes, but only if it was scoped that way from the beginning. The intended use, the intended users, and the effective date are set when the assignment is defined, and those are what make a report usable.

A divorce appraisal and an estate appraisal usually answer different questions as of different dates, so one rarely substitutes for the other. If a report may need to serve two purposes, say so before I start. It's often easy to accommodate up front and impossible to fix later.

The value is as of the effective date stated in the report. It doesn't expire so much as become historical.

Markets move. A conclusion from eight months ago remains a valid statement about that date; it isn't a statement about today.

Tell me. If I got a fact wrong — square footage, bedroom count, a comparable's details — I want to know and I'll correct it.

What I won't do is change a conclusion because someone dislikes it. Those are two different conversations and I'll be clear about which one we're having.

No. Removing private mortgage insurance requires an appraisal ordered by your loan servicer through its own process. An appraisal you order independently generally won't be accepted.

Contact your servicer and ask what they require.

No. Real property only — houses, land, and residential investment property.

For business valuation or personal property, you need a different kind of appraiser, and I'm glad to point you toward one.

The fee is paid before the assignment begins. You'll receive an agreement with the fee and terms, and payment is made at signing.

The fee is for the service and the professional opinion, not for a particular result, so it isn't refundable if the value isn't what you hoped. Basing an opinion of value on a predetermined result isn't something I'm permitted to do.

Cancellation fees depend on how far the assignment has progressed. Cancel before the inspection is scheduled and the charge is minimal. Cancel after scheduling, after the inspection, or after the report is complete, and the charge increases accordingly — up to the full fee once the report exists.

Exact amounts are stated in the agreement you sign before I begin.

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