For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Gateway Real Estate Services

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

For an appraiser the primary responsibility is to his or her client. Normally, for a normal residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to review an appraisal report, you should request it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the report, attaining and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Gateway Real Estate Services, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may sometimes have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - something else Gateway Real Estate Services diligently adheres to.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We don't do that. Other unethical 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you engage Gateway Real Estate Services we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.