An automated valuation model — a Zestimate or similar — is a statistical estimate produced from public records and prior sales. No one has seen the property. No one is liable for the number. It cannot be used for tax, court, lending, or insurance purposes.
A comparative market analysis is prepared by a real estate agent, usually free, to support a listing or offer strategy. It reflects genuine local market knowledge, but it is produced by someone whose compensation depends on a transaction occurring. It is a marketing opinion, not an independent one.
An appraisal is an independent, USPAP-compliant opinion of value prepared by a licensed professional who inspected the property, is paid a flat fee regardless of the conclusion, and can be required to defend that conclusion under cross-examination.
Each has a legitimate use. The mistake is bringing the wrong one to a proceeding that requires the other — arriving at a divorce hearing or an IRS review with a CMA, and discovering it carries no weight at all.
Written by
Jeremy C. Johnson — President / Valuation Specialist. AQB Certified USPAP Instructor, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, 21+ years and 7,000+ valuation assignments. Statement of capability →
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What the work actually looks like
Real assignments, client details removed — what each engagement actually turned on, rather than how it felt.
A house, a workshop of machine tools, a forty-year firearms collection and a stake in the family company — four disciplines that three appraisers had only partly covered. One engagement, one effective date, one set of assumptions.
A donation the regulations would have aggregated past the appraisal threshold, which the donor had assessed item by item. One qualified appraisal covering the group, itemized, signed inside the window the regulations allow.
An opposing report whose number was not obviously wrong — which is what made it dangerous. It failed on its own certification, and was answered section by section with an independent valuation to the correct definition of value.