Ballenger Realtors provides honest and ethical appraisals for Knox County

For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Ballenger Realtors

We think of our job as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.

An appraiser's chief obligation is to their client. Generally, in residential practice, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment are to be discussed with the appraiser's client. As a homeowner, if you would like a copy of an appraisal report, you generally should request it from your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, attaining and sustaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is what we do every day at Ballenger Realtors.

Appraisers will frequently need to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.


	Ballenger Realtors has an established reputation for producing competent and ethically superior appraisals. To learn more, contact us.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - something else Ballenger Realtors diligently adheres to.

We meet or exceed the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing orders based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's certainly a 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 explicitly defines a violation in ethics 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to get you an accurate home or property value.

When you engage Ballenger Realtors, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the high ethical standards we're known for.