Appraisal Quest provides honest and ethical appraisals for Montgomery County

For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Appraisal Quest

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main obligation is to their client. Most of the time, for a typical residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has retained to maintain independence. It's important to know that many matters relating to an assignment are to be shared exclusively with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you desire a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it through your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the report, reaching and sustaining a certain level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Appraisal Quest, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Typically the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary role is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

Appraisal Quest has worked hard for its reputation for providing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.


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

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is never an option. That means we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! We set ourselves to a higher standard.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") clearly describes 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Appraisal Quest, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, honest service.