Appraiser vs. Home Inspector – What’s the Different?

So how will you tell the Appraiser and the Home Inspector apart when they come to your home? They’ll introduce themselves as either the Appraiser or the Home Inspector. Just kidding!

The appraiser’s site visit will usually take around 30 minutes and they will measure your house and look at all of the rooms including the basement. They will be noting the quality and condition of the finishes, the layout, bed and bath count, etc. They will take pictures of each room to include in the appraisal report. In some cases, like for an FHA loan, the appraiser may inspect crawl spaces and attics or test the basic appliances. But he’s probably not going to crawl under the house to inspect the foundation or get on your roof and walk around looking for leaks.

Appraisers try to look at the property through the eyes of the most probable buyer for that particular property – not only which features and attributes they find desirable, but also to what extent would the typical buyers be “inspecting” the home? A more simplified way to look at it is to ask yourself: “If I were looking to purchase this house, what are the things I would look at and what things would I hire someone with professional experience to check?” You may open a cabinet or two, look at the ceilings for leaks, take a look at the mechanicals to see if they are newer or may need replaced soon. But in my experience, very few buyers will be going into crawl spaces and bringing their ladders to get on the roof. They are mainly interested in the functionality of the house such as how many bedroom and bathrooms, whether they like the layout of the floorplan, etc.