Tell us the purpose and the deadline

What to have ready

None of this is required to make the call, but having it to hand turns a quote into a firm number rather than a range.

• The purpose. Estate, divorce, tax appeal, PMI removal, pre-listing, or something else. This determines everything downstream.
• The property address, and the block and lot if you have the assessment notice.
• The effective date, if the purpose fixes one — a date of death, or an October 1 for a tax appeal. If you're unsure, that's a good thing to ask about.
• Any deadline. A filing date, a hearing date, a closing. It affects sequencing, not the analysis.
• Who receives the report. You, counsel, an accountant, a servicer.

If you're not sure an appraisal is what you need

Say so on the call. A fair number of enquiries open with "I just want to know what it's worth" when the real driver is legal — and a comparative market analysis cannot serve a date-of-death filing, an equitable distribution, or a tax appeal.

It also runs the other way. If you're pricing an ordinary house in an active market and nobody else has to be convinced of the number, a formal appraisal is probably not the best use of your money, and you'll hear that.

Appraisal and brokerage are kept separate

This practice holds a New Jersey real estate licence as well as an appraisal credential, and only one capacity is ever taken on a given property. Where a brokerage or CMA option makes sense, that offer is made before any appraisal assignment is accepted — never after, and never both in the same transaction.