For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Bayside Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.

As appraisers our main responsibility is to their client. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require a copy of an appraisal report, you generally have to get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the report, attaining and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Bayside Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will regularly be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Typically the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is limited to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Bayside Appraisals takes very seriously.

Bayside Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. 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 the acceptance 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Bayside Appraisals we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.