Real Estate or Real Property appraisers perform appraisals of land and any permanent structures or improvements attached to it, such as buildings including residences and commercial properties including apartments, retail stores, offices, industrial and mixed-use properties. Appraisers can value land, subdivisions and agricultural properties. Special purposes properties can include hotels, hospitals, sports facilities and golf courses.
ASA-accredited Real Estate appraisers render USPAP-compliant appraisals for acquisition and disposition of property, mortgages and financing, insurance, estate taxes, eminent domain (condemnation), zoning, urban renewal and redevelopment, valuation tax planning, easements and rights of way, property evaluation, and other purposes. The appraisals may include valuation of air rights, surface or subsurface rights, and leased fee interests.
Most Real Estate appraisers are accredited in one (or more) of four primary specialties.
Ad Valorem/Mass Appraisal
Real Estate appraisers or Assessors are charged with the discovery, listing, and valuation of all taxable property in a jurisdiction. There are two sub-specialties: Residential and General.
Going Concern
Real Estate appraisers value complex commercial real estate with a business component, such as car washes, fueling station/c-store, lodging and self-storage facility properties on a regular basis. They know when to allocate/segregate the value components as required by lending institutions.
Real Property
Real Estate appraisers specialize in appraisals of all property types: commercial (office and retail buildings, shopping centers, malls), institutional (hospitals, schools, courthouses), industrial(manufacturing plants, warehouses), special purpose (churches, radio/TV stations, cemeteries, golf and country clubs), and residential (apartment houses, single-family homes, townhouses, cooperatives, condominiums) properties.
Residential
Real Estate appraisers specialize in the valuation of one- to four-unit residential properties.
Unlike appraisers in other disciplines, Real Estate appraisers must also be state-licensed. Most states recognize three licenses (in order of required training and experience): real estate appraiser, residential real estate appraiser, and general real estate appraiser. Some real estate appraisers may also be licensed as real estate brokers.
Real Estate appraisers are among the most interdisciplinary, frequently working together with Business Valuation, Machinery & Technical, and Personal Property appraisers to complete the evaluation of businesses, factories, estates, etc.
In addition to the four primary specialties, Real Estate appraisers may be qualified in Rural Property or in Timber and Timberland.