Realist8 Appraisals LLC maintains the highest professional ethics

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but first and foremost we answer to our clients. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are privy to a lot of information, and like an attorney can only discuss many matters with their client. As a homeowner, if you desire to review an appraisal report, you normally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Realist8 Appraisals LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - at Realist8 Appraisals LLC you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would up the fee. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior as accepting of an assignment that is contingent on "the reporting of a pre-determined result (e.g., opinion of value)," "a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of the client," "the amount of a value opinion," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you engage Realist8 Appraisals LLC we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.