Most appraisals are never questioned. Some are. Those are the ones where accuracy actually matters. In over 20 years of residential valuation, I’ve seen what happens when an appraisal is challenged by the IRS, in a divorce, during an estate settlement, under relocation review, or by a lender. When that happens, the issue is rarely the form or the math. It’s the judgment behind the numbers.

Most appraisers never see the downstream consequences of a weak valuation. They don’t sit in the room when it’s scrutinized, disputed, or relied upon to make irreversible decisions. That’s where I work.

I’m brought in when valuation accuracy matters because the cost of being wrong is real financially, legally, and personally. Not every assignment requires this level of scrutiny. But when it does, experience, judgment, and defensibility matter more than speed or price.