An appraisal is a professional, unbiased, 3rd party opinion of what your home is worth.

If you are buying or refinancing a home, the bank will order an appraisal. Also people order appraisals themselves: to see what their home is worth during a divorce, when someone passes away, to find out how much to sell a home for, or to dispute a property tax appraisal.

The appraiser will measure the home & assess the specifications of the home inside and outside. He will evaluate the sales price of similar homes in your area and determine a value for your home.

A home appraisal is determining the value of a home. A home inspection is evaluating the condition of the home & pointing out things that need to be repaired or may cause problems in the future.

Fair market value is a price that a buyer and a seller agree on for a piece of real estate.

If you have repairs or remodeling already planned, you may want to do that beforehand, but there is nothing that you have to do before an appraisal.

The appraiser will need access to get inside the home or any detached buildings.

The physical on-site inspection generally takes 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the size and complexity of the property. Following the inspection, our appraisers analyze recent local sales, local market trends, and property records. At Brown Appraisal Services, we typically deliver complete, fully documented appraisal reports within 2 to 3 business days following the physical inspection.

Tax Assessments: Performed by county property assessors (such as Knox or Blount County) for tax collection purposes, often relying on mass appraisal algorithms rather than individual site visits. Bank/Mortgage Appraisals: Ordered directly by lenders to secure mortgage financing, usually adhering strictly to lender-specific underwriting requirements. Private Appraisals: Independent, impartial valuations tailored to your personal needs-such as establishing a fair listing price, dividing assets during a divorce, settling an estate, or appealing tax assessments. Private appraisals provide an objective benchmark directly to you without third-party lender restrictions.

Not necessarily. While home upgrades generally enhance appeal and contribute to overall market value, the return on investment rarely equals the exact dollar amount spent. An appraisal evaluates how much local buyers in your specific market (e.g., Oak Ridge, Knoxville, or Maryville) are willing to pay for those improvements relative to comparable homes. Major functional updates-such as modernizing kitchens, upgrading HVAC systems, or replacing a roof-typically provide stronger returns than purely cosmetic or high-end custom features.

Evaluating unique properties-such as historic homes, custom mountain properties, or parcels with acreage-requires analyzing non-standard variables. We evaluate land topography, outbuildings, zoning regulations, view premiums, and utility infrastructure (such as well/septic systems). By applying precise market adjustments based on decades of regional data across Knox, Anderson, Blount, Loudon, and Sevier counties, we arrive at an accurate, defensible market value.

An independent pre-listing appraisal gives you an unbiased, realistic picture of your home's true fair market value before placing it on the market. Unlike online automated valuation tools (AVMs) that rely on generic algorithms, an in-person appraisal factors in your home's exact condition, upgrades, and hyper-local neighborhood trends. Setting an accurate price from day one prevents your home from sitting on the market due to overpricing or leaving money on the table by underpricing.