Written to be argued with
Most appraisals are read once, by an underwriter, and filed. This one is read by somebody actively looking for a reason it is wrong.
That changes how it has to be built. Not the value — the value is whatever the evidence supports — but everything around it. Which sales were chosen, and why those and not others. What each adjustment was for and what supports it. What was inspected, and what could not be.
Anything that would otherwise sit as an unstated assumption gets stated. If opposing counsel intends to go through it line by line, the lines are there to be gone through.
The effective date is the first question, and it is not ours
Counsel names it. We treat it as an instruction and work to it.
New Jersey identifies marital property as of the filing of the complaint. But the date on which the house is valued for distribution is a separate question, decided on the facts of the case, and it frequently lands much nearer to trial or settlement than to filing.
That is not a technicality. In a market that has moved, two plausible effective dates can sit tens of thousands of dollars apart — which is exactly why the date gets negotiated rather than assumed.
If it is still unresolved when you call, say so. The engagement can be written so a second effective date is added later at a reduced fee, rather than paying twice for two complete appraisals.
Who does the engaging
Both arrangements are ordinary and neither is suspect.
Jointly, or through both attorneys. One appraisal, one figure, lower total cost, and no argument later about whose expert said what. Where the parties can still agree on process, this is usually the sensible route.
By one spouse. Equally normal. The USPAP ETHICS RULE requires impartiality and independence whoever is paying the fee.
An appraiser who moves a conclusion to please the party writing the cheque has not done them a favour — they have committed a serious violation, and produced a report that collapses the moment anyone competent examines it.
What retention settles is who the client is and who may receive the report. Nothing else. Either way the report states plainly who engaged it and what it is for.
When there are two numbers
It happens, and it is not automatically a sign that one appraiser is wrong or dishonest.
Compare them properly. Two credible reports on the same house usually differ over one or two specific things: a comparable one appraiser used and the other rejected, a condition adjustment sized differently, or — most often — two different effective dates in a market that moved between them.
Those are arguable on the merits, which is the point. What is not arguable is an opinion with nothing behind it, and that is the difference the reasoning in the report is there to make.
One capacity per matter
We hold a New Jersey broker’s licence as well. On a contested property that is precisely why we will not use it.
Appraisal and brokerage are never both taken on the same house, and never one after the other on the same transaction. If selling turns out to be the better route for both of you, that gets said before an appraisal assignment is accepted — never afterwards, and never by the person who has already valued it.
The independence is the only thing that makes the report worth anything to the spouse who did not commission it. It is not worth trading for a listing.
What you receive
A written report with the instructed effective date, a market value conclusion, and the comparable sales it rests on with every adjustment explained rather than asserted.
It carries the signed USPAP certification including the statement of independence, and it goes to whoever the engagement names — commonly both attorneys.
Fee and turnaround are confirmed in writing before anything starts. If there is a hearing date in the way, say so on the call.
This page describes appraisal practice. It is not legal advice. Valuation dates, distribution and procedure are matters for your attorney.
New Jersey specifics
- New Jersey distributes marital property equitably under statutory factors rather than splitting it in half by default. The appraisal supplies one input to that analysis and does not decide anything on its own.
- The valuation date in a matrimonial matter is a legal determination. It is not the appraiser's to pick, and it often falls nearer to trial or distribution than to the date the complaint was filed.
- Commissioning the work before that date is settled risks paying for the wrong one. Where counsel has not fixed it yet, say so and the engagement can be written to take a second date later at reduced cost.
- An appraiser retained by one spouse is bound to impartiality under USPAP exactly as one retained jointly is. Retention buys an opinion, not an ally.
What you receive
- A report carrying the effective date counsel or the parties specify
- A value conclusion with the comparables named and every adjustment explained
- Signed USPAP certification including the statement of independence
- Delivery to whoever the engagement names — commonly both attorneys, or the retaining one
What we need from you
- Who is engaging: one party, both jointly, or counsel
- The effective date, or word that it is still being negotiated
- Interior access
- Documentation of improvements, and anything known to be wrong with the property