What is so special about the appraiser’s workfile? Just how does it benefit you, the appraiser? Isn’t it really just a time killer? Each of these is a reasonable question. Appraisers ask them all of the time. This podcast answers those questions. Tim also encourages you to find your own answers to these questions.

To keep this precise, we’ll cut to the chase. Your appraiser’s workfile protects you! That’s right! It protects you, the appraiser! You rightly ask, “Tim, it protects me from what?”. Thanks for asking! A complaint came in from a consumer (not the client). According to the complaint’s details, the consumer accused the appraiser of never visiting the property. Long story short, the appraiser went to the workfile. Guess what!? In it was a photo of one of the bathrooms. This photo was not in the report. Why? Because the photo showed the appraiser’s reflection in a mirror! Needless to say, that was proof the appraiser really had visited the property (damn consumers!).

How else does the appraiser’s workfile protect you? You showed Comp #2 in your report at $375,000 since that’s what the MLS printout showed. You called the broker, who verified the purchase and sale at that price. All that you chronicled in the workfile. Yet the property really sold for $350,000. The broker lied (as if that were possible, right?)! That you depended on “reliable” data is what saved you! And, since the recorded deed eventually showed only $350,000, you covered you assets! How? In the workfile were both the MLS printout and a summary of your conversation with that lying broker.

See how the appraiser’s workfile benefitted you?