Compass Appraisal provides honest and ethical appraisals for Wakulla County

For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Compass Appraisal

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.

The appraiser's chief obligation is to their client. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has brought in to maintain independence. Certain details relating to an assignment are to be discussed with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you want a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to request it via your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other obligations include accurate figures appropriate to the scope of the assignment, acquiring and sustaining an adequate level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Compass Appraisal, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined 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 things in the framework of the order.


	Compass Appraisal has an established reputation for performing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - at Compass Appraisal you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

Compass Appraisal holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Accepting orders based on contingency fees is never an option. In other words, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's an obvious conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a larger value with the reward of getting paid more money! This isn't how we operate.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly states a violation in ethics 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Compass Appraisal, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the principles we're known for.