Antietam Appraisals provides honest and ethical appraisals for Washington County

Honesty and Integrity: Antietam Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a great deal of responsibilities as appraisers, but our primary duty is to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. It's important to know that a lot of matters pertaining to an assignment are to be discussed exclusively with the appraiser's client. As a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to get it via your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other obligations include accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, acquiring and sustaining a certain level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Antietam Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will sometimes be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.


	Antietam Appraisals has worked hard for its track record for producing competent and ethically superior appraisals. To learn more, contact us.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Antietam Appraisals makes a part of their standard routine.

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. Doing assignments based on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. There's an obvious conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! This isn't how we operate.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice clearly states unethical behavior as accepting 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to get you an accurate home or property value.

When you engage Antietam Appraisals, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the honesty and integrity we're known for.