When the other side's appraisal doesn't hold up, we tell you exactly where. and why. $895 flat.

You received an appraisal from opposing counsel. The number is wrong, or your client says it's wrong, and you need to know whether there's anything behind it.

A divorce appraisal review answers that question in writing. We examine the report the way an agency reviewer examines a lender file, adjustment by adjustment, comparable by comparable, and produce a written opinion on whether the analysis actually supports the value conclusion.

$895 flat. Delivered 5 to 7 days from receipt of the report.

Appraisal review is not a second appraisal, and it is not something every appraiser is equipped to do.

We have completed 250+ appraisal reviews for lenders and the Department of Veterans Affairs across 34 years. That is the most demanding review environment in residential appraisal, Fannie Mae, FHA, and VA underwriting standards where the reviewer's job is to find the weak spot in another appraiser's work and document it.

That is the same skill a family law attorney needs when the report on the table doesn't add up. The difference is the audience: instead of an underwriter, it's Fairfax County Circuit Court.

Behind it: 34 years, 15,000+ completed appraisals, 300+ divorce assignments, and 700+ forensic and litigation files.

Under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, an appraisal review is its own assignment type, governed by Standards 3 and 4. It produces an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work, whether the report is credible, whether it complies with USPAP, and whether the analysis inside it supports the conclusion it reaches.

It is not an opinion that the other appraiser is dishonest. It is an examination of whether the work was done, and whether it was done well enough to rely on.

That distinction matters, because a review report written to that standard survives cross-examination. A casual critique from an appraiser who never scoped it as a review assignment does not.

• Adjustment support. The most common failure by a wide margin. Every adjustment in the sales comparison grid, square footage, bathrooms, garage, condition, lot, is supposed to be derived from market evidence. Frequently it's a round number with nothing behind it. We identify which adjustments are supported, which aren't, and what the value indication looks like when the unsupported ones are tested.
• Comparable selection. Whether the comps came from the subject's actual competitive market. In Fairfax County that boundary can be tighter than a mile, Burke and Fairfax Station price differently, Vienna inside the town limits is its own market, and public sewer versus septic is real money in the outer submarkets.
• The comparable that isn't there. An unexplained omission of the best available sale is frequently more significant than anything in the report.
• Effective date. Whether the report answers the question your case actually asks. Divorce matters often require a retrospective value as of the date of separation, not the date the appraiser happened to inspect.
• Definition of value. Whether it matches the intended use. Market value, liquidation value, and value assuming a quick sale are different numbers, and the difference goes directly to one party.
• Intended use and intended user. Whether the report was developed for litigation at all, or scoped for a different assignment and repurposed.
• Gross living area. Measured against ANSI Z765, county records, and listing history. Below-grade area counted as living area inflates value on its face.
• Condition and quality ratings. Whether they're consistent with the photographs in the same report.
• Market conditions. Whether the appraiser analyzed what the market did between the comparable sale dates and the effective date, or assumed it stood still.
• Scope of work. Whether it describes this assignment or could have been written before the appraiser saw the property.

Most disputes come down to one thing: where did the adjustments come from?

Our own reports derive adjustments using Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines, a statistical modeling method that extracts adjustment values from actual market data rather than professional judgment alone. Every adjustment traces back to something documented.

That is the standard we review against. When a report shows $10,000 for a bathroom and $25 per square foot with no derivation anywhere in the file, the question isn't whether those numbers feel reasonable, it's whether the appraiser can show where they came from. Frequently they can't.

A written appraisal review report developed under USPAP Standards 3 and 4, identifying each area where the report under review is supported and each area where it is not, with the reasoning documented.

If the review supports the report, we say so. An honest review that confirms the other side's work is worth knowing before you spend your client's money contesting it.

$895 flat. 5 to 7 days from receipt.

A review tells you whether their report holds up. It does not produce an independent opinion of value.

If your matter needs both, the second piece is a full divorce appraisal at $895, a separate assignment with its own inspection, its own analysis, and its own report. Attorneys frequently order the review first and decide from there.

Fairfax County. Fairfax City, Fairfax Station, Burke, Springfield, Annandale, Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Great Falls, Clifton, Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Reston. Arlington County, Alexandria, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Stafford County, and Washington, DC.

Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser. Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland.

Call or text (703) 350-2542 · mike.g@dcmetroappraisals.com

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