Appraisers: directory of firms

People often treat the two as interchangeable, and they are not. An agent preparing to list a property produces an opinion of value or a comparative market analysis: a marketing document, prepared by someone who will usually be paid if the property sells, aimed at setting a listing strategy. It is useful for that purpose and is not intended to be anything else.

An appraisal is a professional engagement. A designated appraiser is independent of the outcome, works to recognised professional standards, and produces a report that identifies the client, the intended use, the effective date, the definition of value used, the research relied on and the limiting conditions. The Appraisal Institute of Canada describes estimating market value as a complex process involving the collection and analysis of a number of comparable properties to form a reliable estimate, and its designated appraisers carry professional liability insurance for services covered by the standards.

This distinction has practical consequences. If you need a value that will be scrutinised by a lender, a court, an executor, a tax authority or the other side in a negotiation, an informal estimate will usually not carry the weight required.

Appraisal is regulated differently from real estate brokerage, and the arrangement varies across the country, so verify rather than assume.

In Quebec, the title is reserved by law. Membership in the Ordre des evaluateurs agrees du Quebec is required to use the title of chartered appraiser, and under the Code of Professions a person may not use that title or its initials without holding a valid permit and being entered on the order's roll. The order was created in 1969 and exists to protect the public by overseeing the quality of its members' professional work through inspection, ethics rules, mandatory continuing education and professional liability insurance.

Elsewhere, a designation from a national body is usually the operative credential, and some provincial real estate regulators license appraisal activity as well. Ask the appraiser directly which designation they hold and which body, if any, licenses them where the property is located, then confirm it on that body's own register rather than taking a logo on a website at face value.

The Appraisal Institute of Canada states that an appraiser's fee is generally a flat fee determined by the complexity of the assignment and the number of hours required, and that it is not determined by the value of the property being appraised. A fee arrangement that varied with the value reached, or with whether a particular value was achieved, would undermine the independence that gives an appraisal its worth.

So expect to be quoted on scope rather than on outcome. An urban detached house with plentiful comparable sales is a different assignment from a rural acreage, a heritage property, a partly completed building or an investment property with a complex lease structure. When you request a quotation, say what the appraisal is for, who will rely on it, whether the report may need to be defended, and the date the value must be effective at, since each of those affects the work required.