Specialty appraisal
Appraisal review: testing the report rather than replacing it
A review appraiser examines someone else\u2019s work and forms an opinion about its quality. It is a recognised discipline with its own standard, and it is often the cheapest useful step an owner can take.
Two kinds
Review with and without an opinion of value
Review only
The reviewer assesses the quality and credibility of the report without forming an independent value conclusion. Faster and cheaper, and sufficient where the aim is to identify whether the report is defensible.
Review with a value opinion
The reviewer also states their own opinion of value, which requires the full work of an appraisal. More expensive, and necessary where a competing figure will be put forward.
Why start here
The cheapest way to find out whether you have an argument
An owner facing an offer has three options: accept it, commission an independent appraisal, or find out first whether the agency appraisal is sound. The third is the cheapest and it informs the other two.
A review will usually tell you within a short time whether the report has a weakness worth pursuing. If it is well constructed, properly reasoned and the conclusions follow from the evidence, that is valuable information: it suggests the offer is defensible and that litigation would be expensive and unlikely to improve it. If the review finds the remainder was not analysed, or the highest and best use was asserted without support, you now have a specific argument rather than a general dissatisfaction.
Review findings are also more persuasive than owner objections. An agency receiving a professional review identifying a methodological gap responds differently from one receiving a letter saying the offer is too low.
What reviews commonly find
The recurring findings, in rough order of frequency
| Finding | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Severance damages concluded as nil with no analysis | A conclusion without reasoning cannot be tested or relied on |
| Highest and best use assumed rather than supported | The premise of the whole valuation rests on an unexamined assumption |
| The remainder not separately analysed | The after value is then a smaller before value, not a valuation of the remainder |
| Comparable sales affected by the project | Project influence is supposed to be excluded, not embedded in the evidence |
| Excessive gross adjustments | The comparables are not doing the work the method requires of them |
| Cost to cure offered in place of damages | Valid only where the cure restores the lost utility |
| Valuation date wrong or unstated | The opinion then answers a different question from the one the law asks |
Questions about review
Can my own appraiser review the agency report
Yes, and reviewers are frequently also appraisers. Review is a distinct assignment with its own standard, so the engagement should say which is being done.
Will a review change the offer
Sometimes directly, where it identifies a clear omission that the agency accepts. More often it establishes the ground for negotiation or for an independent appraisal.
What does a review cost
Substantially less than a full appraisal, typically a fraction of it, because the reviewer is examining work already done rather than producing a valuation from the start.
Is a review admissible in court
Reviewers testify regularly, and the review supports their testimony. Practice varies on how review findings are presented, and that is a question for counsel.
Get a valuation question answered
If an offer has arrived and the number does not match what you believe the property is worth, the appraisal behind it is the place to look. Start with the pages below.