An appraiser offers a professional, unbiased opinion of market value for making real estate transactions. Appraisers will produce a report that shows their investigation of the property.

There are numerous reasons why an individual might need an appraisal. Some of the most common uses of appraisals are when determining a property's value to sell or buy. Other times when appraisers are sought out include to refinance, determining values equity for personal loans, establishing rents, reviewing another appraisers work, considering if improvements are worth the effort , valuing improvements already made  and establishing the worth of a home's for a divorce. 

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Automated Values (AVM- Automated Value Models) are generally instant and free, but are less reliable with typical error rates of as much as 5 to 10% which translated to $50,000 on average for a Ventura County home.  For $200 you can reduce the risk of inaccuracies by having a human estimate your value based on appraisal industry standards rather than relying on generalized Automated Value Models. 

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While there are many different uses for appraisals there are only a limited amount of appraisal types. Commercial, residential, income appraisals and vacant land are based on the type of property being valued. Inspections can be made with full inspections, Drive-By, Desktop and Hybrid versions.  Street Value Appraisals ONLY offer's Desktop Appraisals. Desktop appraisals are typically less expensive than Interior or Drive-By appraisals. Hybrid appraisals are generally only used by lenders. 

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An appraiser arrives at a value after comparing the subject property against other comparable properties. Adjustments are made for differences between the subject and comparable selected to determine the most likely cost or rent of the property. Adjustments can come from anything that might differentiate one property from another. The most common factors that are given an adjustment include but are not limited to: Living Area Size, Lot Size, View, Quality, Condition, Design plus Bedroom and Bathroom counts.

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Street Value Appraisals enables you to get a professional appraisal at a reduced cost versus traditional appraisals by selecting a Desktop Appraisal. Most Street Value Appraisals cost $200 which is a significant savings over Full and Drive By appraisals which often start $350 but can cost as much as $650.

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Advances in technology enable a Desktop Appraiser to have more reliable information about a property than ever before which makes the need to personally inspect the property less necessary.  As a company that focuses exclusively on doing Desktop Appraisals we have have fine tuned the Desktop Appraisal process to produce reliable results from the Desktop Appraisal format.  There are many cases where an interior or Drive By inspection is not necessary so why pay extra for something you do not need. 

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Automated Values (AVM- Automated Value Models) are generally instant and free, but are less reliable with typical error rates of as much as 5 to 10% which translated to $50,000 on average for a Ventura County home.  For $200 you can reduce the risk of inaccuracies by having a human estimate your value based on appraisal industry standards rather than relying on generalized Automated Value Models. 

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Another benefit to using Street Value Appraisals is your time and convivence .  With no inspection you avoid having to take time off or arrange for someone to be there to let the appraiser into your home and better yet no cleaning or having a stranger go through inspecting every room or your home.

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Automated Value companies do not typically reveal the exact formulas they use to arrive at values. An appraiser is generally believed to be more accurate than an automated services for the following reasons.

1)  AVMs are believed to work off of larger area sections rather than selecting smaller marketing areas and defined neighborhoods like an appraiser would.

2) AVM estimate of your home’s worth based only on basic known factors. There are many aspects to buying a home that are either not added to an AVM formula or that are subjective to a human that the Real Estate Artificial Intelligence programs do not attempt to quantify.  Landscaping, design, local school reputations, type of materials used in building the home,  plus proximity parks are just some of the items an AVM won’t begin to quantify.

3) A huge blind spot for AVM's is knowing the current condition of a property and if upgrading has occurred.  

4) AVMs are very dependent on the amount of market activity that is occurring. When listings reduce so does their accuracy due to their formulas being so dependent on higher volume to create accuracy.

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Appraisal costs usually depend on multiple factors that affect the cost of an appraisal.  These items typically include but are not limited to: The type of property, the complexity, size of the dwelling, the location of the property, the use of the report and the kind of inspection required to complete the assignment.

Four primary classes of real estate appraisal inspections exist.  1) A full inspection of a property by an appraiser where the exterior and interior of the dwelling is seen. 2) Drive By Inspections where the appraiser only inspects the outside of a residency from the street. 3) A Desktop Inspection where no onsite examination is made by the appraiser. 4) A hybrid Inspection involves an inspection or photos being taken by an individual that is not the appraiser with the photos and site information being used by the appraiser to give an opinion of value within an appraisal report.

Appraisals requiring full inspections typical cost $350 on the low end up to $650 with average cost between $400 to $450.  Exterior Drive By Inspection Appraisal reports are typically available for $100 less than a full inspection fee from most appraisers. Hybrid Inspection-Appraisal cost usually have similar fees as Exterior Inspection assignments. Desktop Appraisals with no inspection are the most affordable type of appraisal report available, but are not suitable for all uses.

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The length of time before you get your completed appraisal emailed back to you varies based on the current demand. Appraisals have busy seasons like most other businesses. The current turn-time for appraisals is updated each day on our Order Page, Order FAQ and here. Finished appraisal reports are emailed to the email address given in the Order Form. Appraisals ordered after 2pm are counted as being ordered on the next business day.

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The current turn-time for Appraisal Orders to be completed is 2-3 business days.

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 If a full inspection appraisal is required an appraiser will walk-through the interior and exterior of a property to make a general assessment of a home, giving special attention to verify that the home matches public records information or notes differences. The inspection will also categorize the dwelling's quality and condition with photos to select comparable properties to help establish an opinion of value. Adjustments will be made to comparable properties (comps) used based on the estimated monetary cost associated with the differences between the subject and comps. A Desktop Appraisal uses public information to select the comps that most closely reflect the subject's marketability. Quality and Condition ratings for the subject are estimated to be what is average or typical for the marketing area unless otherwise noted and communicated in Desktop reports. 

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Street Value Appraisals also provides the opportunity for photos of the subject property to be submitted and included by an interested party to enhance a Desktop Appraisal's accuracy if the appraisal is not being used for loan purposes.

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There are major components that an appraiser uses to determine a properties value which will guide you through following the report and understanding the steps an appraiser takes in writing his opinion regarding the subject property. 

Reading the Scope of Work Section of a report lays out important information regarding the type of Inspection that the Appraisal Report was written against. The Scope of Work also gives the estimated time frame the appraiser assesses that a typical home will be on the market before selling.

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The Subject Property Information Section will give public records details about the subject and Marketing Area. This area of the Appraisal let's the read know facts about the property,

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Sales Comparison Approach is where an appraiser will match up the subject versus the marketing area comparable properties with Lot Size, Living Area Size, Bedroom/Bathroom Counts, Location, Quality, Condition and other items which will note difference between properties to typical buyers.

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Comments Section and Opinion of Value are where the appraiser will give explanations as to why properties were selected, adjustments between properties were given and how the final values was arrived at.

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If you are using a lender to refinance or to purchase a property the Lender or the Appraisal Management Company (AMC) used by the Loan Company will order the appraisal and select the appraiser.  A borrower typically has no say so in the selection of an appraiser. 

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Non Lender appraisal uses are not limited in selecting the appraiser of their choice.

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An appraisal is typically valid for 3 or 4 months following the report being signed.  Factors like the type of loan and the current real estate market can alter the validity of a prior appraisal.  Unusual situations where there is a sudden and drastic change within a market may shorten the life of the appraisals usefulness.  This may occur more often follow a disaster in an area natural or man made. Some examples of this may come following an earthquake, wildfire, riots,  when a larger employer closes a plant or various other causes. 

When an appraisal is older than 90 to 120 days the original appraisal report may often be updated or recertified, without the need for an all together new appraisal. 

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While an appraiser and a real estate agent may both give opinions of a property's value they are arrived at by using different methods, they also may have Real Word influences that further widen the estimates given.

An appraiser will typically give more weight to recently sold properties while an agent or broker may put greater consideration on current listings. An appraiser typically utilizes smaller search parameters and bracketing of the subject's Living Area, Lot Size, Bed Bath Count and general characteristics of a dwelling due to appraiser and lender industry standards that a agent / broker is not restricted with.  

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Another factor which can cause further gaps in prices provided by both comes from the fact that an agent may set a higher price based on dealing with a world of listing prices and potentially competing against other agents / broker potential estimates.

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An appraiser is looking primarily for key things to help the appraiser compare the subject home to other comparable properties. A home inspector is focused exclusively on the subject. Inspectors test the functionality of the home while an appraiser does not.

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When an appraisal is used for lending purposes the lender not the borrower actually owns the appraisal report even though the property own pays for it. This is one reason why the appraisal report is not transferable to a new company if you change your mind about which lender to use during the purchasing or refinancing process.

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A real estate appraiser’s job is to evaluate properties and determine a fair market value. Appraisals are necessary  in various situations including before a property can be bought with a loan, tax purposes, some divorce settlements, and several other common circumstances. An appraiser is someone with whom a great deal of trust is placed regarding their honesty and expertise. 

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Each State sets their own appraiser licensing requirements and testing. Most states have reciprocal agreements with other states in accepting out of state appraiser's licenses. 

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Most states have similar license requirements:​

Be 18 years of age or older

Complete qualifying appraisal education courses outlined by the Appraiser Qualifications Board 

Accumulate 1,000+ hours of field experience as a trainee appraiser 

Complete additional coursework every 2 and 4 year periods 

​​Many states require a bachelor’s or associate’s degree or 30-hours of completed college credits

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