What we appraise
Belk Appraisal Service covers residential property across Metro Atlanta, working out of Marietta:
- Single-family homes, from starter properties to custom and luxury builds.
- Condominiums and townhouses, where the comparable set is the association rather than the wider neighbourhood.
- Two- to four-unit residential property, including owner-occupied duplexes.
- Small investment property, where the income approach may carry weight alongside sales comparison.
- Vacant residential land and lots, valued on zoning, access, utilities and highest and best use.
Properties that are unusual for their market take longer and cost more to appraise, because the comparable evidence has to be found rather than pulled. That is said up front, not discovered halfway through.
What is actually in the report
A residential appraisal report is a piece of evidence, and it is written to be examined. Every one contains:
- The intended use and intended users, stated explicitly, so there is no argument later about what the report was for or who may rely on it.
- The effective date of value, which is usually the date of inspection but may be a past date where the assignment calls for one.
- The scope of work, describing what was inspected and what was not.
- A sketch and measured gross living area, taken on site. County records are often inaccurate and are not relied on.
- Comparable sales with adjustments, each one reasoned from market evidence rather than a rule of thumb.
- Photographs of the subject, the comparables and anything affecting value.
- The appraiser's certification, signature and Georgia credential.
Why the online estimate and the appraisal disagree
Automated valuation models price a home by pattern-matching public records and past sales. They are useful for a rough range across thousands of properties and unreliable for any one of them, for reasons that are structural rather than fixable:
- They have never been inside. A gutted kitchen and a renovated one look identical in county data.
- They inherit bad square footage. If the tax record is wrong, the estimate is wrong, and tax records are wrong often.
- They cannot see condition. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof and a finished basement that was never permitted are all invisible.
- They struggle where sales are thin. Unique properties, custom builds and neighbourhoods with little turnover are exactly where the model has least to learn from.
None of that makes an online estimate worthless. It makes it a starting point for a conversation rather than a number to make a decision on, and it is not evidence anyone official will accept.
Choosing a certified appraiser
Appraisal is a licensed profession in Georgia, and the credential matters more than the marketing. Worth asking any appraiser before you engage them:
- What is your Georgia credential, and is it current? Certification levels differ in what property they permit.
- How often do you work in this specific market? Metro Atlanta is not one market. Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb and the counties beyond behave differently, and so do submarkets inside them.
- What is the intended use, and who will be allowed to rely on the report? An appraiser who cannot answer that cleanly has not scoped the assignment.
- Will you testify if this becomes contested? Worth knowing before you need the answer, not after.
One thing no credible appraiser will do is tell you what the number will be before the work is done. An appraiser who quotes a value to win the job has already told you what the report is worth.
