Find the information you need

to determine if your home's value is...

Exploding          or          Sinking                                                

Without having to pay for an entire appraisal from an Appraiser

or deal with Real Estate Agents who want to list your home for sale.

Spend $50 with Armstrong Appraisal and you'll get

Comparable Sales and Active Listings from your neighborhood

that would most likely be used in an appraisal report.

What you need to provide:

We need you to provide us with information about the subject property such as: address, year built, style, square footage, bedroom count, bathroom count, foundation type, garage type and capacity, lot size, special features (i.e. pool, sun room, pole barn, etc.) and recent updates.  Provide a Credit Card number (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) with expiration date, name on card, signature, and billing address to approve a $50 charge for our services.  If you move forward with an appraisal order $50 will be taken off the appraisal fee. ($50 price reduction is based on the information provided being accurate so the same comparables can be used within the appraisal report.)

Print a Comp Search Order Form.pdf, Fill out with as much information as you can or provide to your borrower to fill out.  You can fax or email your request to; Fax: (248) 391-8200 or Email: info@4armstrong.com

What we will provide back:

We will provide you with three (3) to six (6) comparable sales and active listings within the subject property's market area to help you determine if you would like to move forward with an appraisal order from Armstrong Appraisal.  We can provide some assistance in evaluating the data provided, but we can not provide you with our own estimate of value prior to conducting an inspection and going through the entire appraisal process.  There will be no stipulated results or guarantees made that any particular value is obtainable without conducting an actual appraisal.

Information About Comp Searches

Comp Searches are a part of the Appraisal Industry to help clients (loan officers) find market comparable data.  This data is needed to get a rough idea of what a potential borrower's property may be worth prior to ordering a full appraisal.  However, there is line that cannot be crossed by the appraiser when dealing with a comp search.

Illegal and Unethical Comp Searches:

The practice of researching comparables, analyzing the data and providing a client with an estimated value prior to inspecting a property without going through the entire appraisal process crosses the line of ethics for professional appraisers.  Doing so is conducive to unethical behaviors occurring.  Such as; Predetermined Values, Stipulated Results, and Value Shopping.

It is unethical for an appraiser to accept an assignment based on predetermined values.  If a client refuses to order an appraisal unless an appraiser gives an opinion of value, that would constitute a predetermined value and/or stipulated results.  If several appraisers give a predetermined value on a property and give a client a choice of what appraiser to use based on those predetermined values; it would constitute value shopping.

It is unethical for a client (loan officer) to expect illegal and unethical behavior from an appraiser in order to receive their business.  One of the most important responsibilities of an appraiser is to remain independent, impartial, and objective.  When appraisers are expected to give a value on a property prior to conducting an appraisal in order to receive an order it jeopardizes all three (3) of these responsibilities.  Appraisers would merely inflate values and tell the client what they want to hear in order to receive appraisal orders.

Licensed Appraiser Rules and Laws That Must Followed:

Verbal Appraisals and Predetermined Values are not allowed by USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) and State Licensing Laws.  Specifically, Michigan Law says an appraisal shall be in writing and shall conform to USPAP in Article 26 Section 2609.  USPAP says that all appraisals completed must be preformed by following specific standard rules.  Within those rules there is specific information an appraiser must provide in each written appraisal report such as; option of reporting, intended users, intended use, identification of the characteristics of the property, real property interest appraised, type and definition of value, effective date of appraisal and date of report, scope of work, information analyzed, methods and techniques employed, and most importantly a signed certification.  Within that written certification it is required that an appraiser certify these two items along with others (1) "my engagement in this appraisal was not contingent upon developing or reporting predetermined results", and (2) "my compensation for completing this appraisal assignment is not contingent upon the development or reporting of a predetermined value or direction in value that favors the cause of the client, the amount of the value opinion, the attainment of a stipulated result, or the occurrence of a subsequent event directly related to the intended use of this appraisal.