How a Home Appraisal Is Different From a Home Inspection
Even friends of mine get this wrong. I’ll get a call: “Hey, we’re buying a house — can you be our inspector?”
Come on, Bill?! We’ve known each other for 15 years. I’m not a home inspector. I’m an appraiser!
These two services exist for completely different purposes. A home inspection is designed to protect a buyer from purchasing a broken house. An appraisal is designed to determine what a typical buyer would pay for a home in its current condition at a specific point in time.
A home inspection focuses on finding problems. The inspection itself is the feature. Home inspectors are trained to be thorough — testing systems, opening panels, examining components, and looking for deficiencies or safety concerns. Their time on site is usually longer, and the report that follows is designed to organize and prioritize what they find.
An appraisal inspection focuses on gathering data. When I’m at a property, I’m on a fact-finding mission, collecting information that later translates into market value through analysis of comparable sales. I’m essentially collecting three big buckets of data: size, quality, and condition.
One of the most important data points is size, which is why I measure every house myself rather than relying on public records. Beyond size, I’m observing the quality of the home — the materials and features used throughout. That might mean vinyl flooring versus hand-scraped white oak, builder-grade cabinetry versus custom cabinetry, laminate countertops versus stone, or basic appliance packages versus upgraded ones. Condition matters just as much. Finishes wear over time. Carpet can be stained or pet-damaged. Higher-quality materials can be worn or simply dated. Those details matter because buyers react to them, and the market reflects that reaction.
The visit itself is an important step, but it represents only a portion of the overall appraisal process — typically around 15% of my total workload. The visit gives me the raw facts. The rest of the work happens afterward at my desk, where I research comparable sales, verify data, analyze how buyers have paid for differences in size, quality, and condition, and then develop a supported value conclusion.
That difference in focus is why an appraisal inspection isn’t meant to replace a home inspection. I document what I can observe and account for how it affects market value, but I’m not testing systems or evaluating a home for defects the way a licensed home inspector does. A home inspection answers “what’s wrong?” An appraisal answers “what’s it worth in today’s market?”
