Four Numbers, Four Purposes

A tax assessment, an automated online estimate, a lender’s appraisal, and a broker’s opinion of value are calculated differently and serve different masters. Only one of them can stop your transaction, and it is the appraisal.

Comparables Do the Work

Valuation is mostly the disciplined selection of comparable sales. Recency, proximity, and similarity all matter, and the further an appraiser has to reach on any of those axes, the softer the resulting number becomes.

Adjustments Are Where Judgement Enters

No two homes match exactly, so the appraiser adjusts for differences in size, condition, view, and lot. Reasonable people disagree here, which is why two competent appraisals on the same property can differ by several percent.

What Automated Estimates Miss

Portal estimates work from recorded data and cannot see condition, light, noise, or which side of a street a house sits on. On a uniform tract they are reasonable. On hillside or architectural stock they are frequently far off.

When the Appraisal Comes in Low

A low appraisal does not end a deal, it reopens it. The gap can be covered by the buyer, met by a price reduction, split between the parties, or challenged with better comparables, and which path is available depends on how the contract was written.