Report Types
Appraisal reports fall into three basic categories: oral reports, form reports and narrative reports, all of which must comply with the USPAP requirements to: 1) clearly and accurately set forth the appraisal in a manner that will not be misleading; 2) contain sufficient information to enable the intended users of the appraisal to understand the report properly; and 3) clearly and accurately disclose any extraordinary assumption, hypothetical condition or limiting condition that directly affects the appraisal and indicate its impact on value1.
Oral reports are not as typical in everyday appraisal practice as are written reports. Testimony presented in a court of law or during a deposition, for instance, is an example of an oral appraisal report. What might be surprising, however, is that anytime someone who is clearly representing him/herself to be an appraiser states an opinion of value, they are required to have the data and analysis to support their verbal conclusion.
Form reports are classified as summary appraisal reports and are typically used for residential or smaller mixed-use properties. They are simply an appraisal report presented on a form instead of written in a narrative format. They are typically the chosen deliverable for clients such as financial institutions, insurance agencies and governmental agencies who deal with the purchase and sale of mortgages in the secondary mortgage markets. The standardization of this report format allows for greater efficiencies in the review process.
Narrative appraisal reports are the most typical deliverable requested for commercial appraisals. The narrative format falls into three categories:
- Restricted-use appraisal report
- Summary appraisal report
- Self-contained appraisal report
A restricted-use appraisal report is a short written document that essentially states all pertinent data as well as an opinion of value. Because of the absence of supporting data and analysis, this report is less common than the summary or self-contained report. A restricted-use appraisal
report has limited reliability for other than the intended user because it cannot be understood properly without the additional information retained in the appraiser's work file.
A summary report is a written narrative which provides a moderate level of detailed information and analysis, greater detail than the restricted-use report but less than the self-contained. The summary report states all of the pertinent information but additionally summarizes details, analysis and conclusions that are not included in the restricted-use report.
The self-contained appraisal report contains the highest level of detail of the narrative formats, going into greater descriptive detail than either the restricted-use or summary formats.
1. The Appraisal of Real Estate, 13th Edition