Property records and appraisal preparation

You do not need any of this to call. It just makes things go faster and keeps the facts accurate.

Start with the parcel, not the street address. A mailing address can be shared, unclear or out of date, while a parcel number points to exactly one piece of land in the county record. You will usually find it on your deed, your annual tax notice, or your closing paperwork. If the property takes in more than one parcel, such as a side lot, a strip of rear acreage or a separate garage lot, write down every number. Each one needs to be accounted for.

The county record is a starting point, and it is not always up to date. Additions, converted garages, finished basements and corrected measurements often take a while to show up. Read what the county shows and mark anything that does not match what you know to be true.

• Living area — does the recorded square footage match plans, a prior appraisal or a listing sheet?
• Year built, and the year of any addition.
• Bedroom and bathroom counts, including anything added or removed.
• Lot size and whether adjoining parcels are included.
• Outbuildings: detached garage, shop, barn, guest quarters.
• Anything shown in the record that no longer exists on the property.

Photographs are some of the most helpful papers in an appraisal file, especially when the value is for a date in the past. A phone album, an old listing sheet, or pictures taken for an insurance claim can show what a kitchen, roof or floor looked like on a day nobody can go back to.

These two things shape the assignment more than anything else. The intended user is whoever will rely on the written report: you, an attorney, a tax preparer, co-heirs, or another named party. The effective date is the day the opinion of value applies to. It can be today or a date that has already passed.

If someone else asked you to get the value, ask them to put both in writing. A one-line email saying which date is needed and who will rely on the report can head off the most expensive kind of do-over.

Access sets the pace of almost every assignment. Sorting it out before the first call often saves more time than anything else on this page.

• Who holds keys, and whether a lockbox or code is available.
• Whether the home is occupied by an owner, family member or tenant, and what notice they need.
• Locked rooms, outbuildings, crawl spaces or attics, and who can open them.
• Pets, alarm codes, gate codes and parking constraints.
• Rear acreage or structures that can only be reached on foot.

A short written list keeps the conversation about scope moving and makes it far less likely that something important comes up only after the report is done.

• What exactly will the written report contain, and in what form?
• Which effective date will it state, and why that one?
• Who will be named as the intended users?
• What assumptions are likely, given the condition of my documents?
• What does the recipient of this report require, and have I confirmed that with them?
• What could change the scope of work once the property is documented?

When the list is ready, the service pages show which documents matter most for your situation.