Real Estate Appraiser

You know the phrase, “Home is where the heart is”? Well, it just so happens that “home” is also where the wallet is.

In fact, even in down markets, real estate is considered a sound financial investment. When you’re a Real Estate Appraiser, that makes you a very important person. It also makes you a very loved — or very loathed — person, depending on the outcome of your appraisal.

That’s because it’s up to you, the Real Estate Appraiser, to answer the question: What’s my property worth? Hired by owners, Real Estate Agents and Mortgage Brokers, a Real Estate Appraiser conducts a very rational analysis as part of what’s typically a very emotional process — the process of buying or selling property.

To determine what it’s worth (the price it’s most likely to sell for, given current market conditions) you visit the property in question — a home, building or piece of land — then measure, photograph and inspect it in order to collect as much physical information as possible. Once you’ve collected physical data on site, you then return to your office to collect market data, including information about location, supply and demand, and recent transactions involving comparable properties.

Based on your physical assessment and market research, you then make an educated guess about the property’s value, which you present in the form of a detailed report that includes a legal and physical description of the property, photos, floor plans and sales comps, as well as a written explanation of your estimate. Sometimes you’ll get hugs, sometimes hate mail; either way, you’ll get your paycheck!