A desktop appraisal is best described as an assignment completed how?
Correct Answer
B) Without a personal inspection of the property
Why this is correct: A desktop appraisal develops a full opinion of value but is performed without the appraiser's personal inspection of the subject property, relying instead on provided data, records, and possibly third-party inspections. Why the other choices are wrong: An appraiser who views only the exterior describes a drive-by or exterior-only inspection. A desktop appraisal does include an opinion of value. An automated model with appraiser sign-off describes a hybrid or evaluation product, not necessarily a desktop appraisal. Exam tip: The key scope issue in a desktop appraisal is the lack of personal inspection, which must be clearly disclosed.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option B isolates the defining characteristic: the absence of a personal inspection by the appraiser. Everything else about the assignment, including the requirement to develop a supportable opinion of value and to disclose the scope of work, is unchanged. The definition is negative in form, which is deliberate, because the product is defined by what was left out rather than by any new technique added. That is also why the disclosure obligation is heightened.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: By an appraiser who views only the exterior
Viewing only the exterior describes a drive-by or exterior-only inspection, which is a reduced inspection rather than no inspection. The appraiser has still been to the property and observed its street presence, siting, and apparent condition from the curb. Because that is a genuinely different scope with different reliability, exam writers use it as the nearest-neighbor distractor.
Option C: Without any opinion of value being developed
An assignment with no opinion of value is not an appraisal at all; it would be an appraisal review, a consulting assignment, or an evaluation. A desktop appraisal produces a full value opinion, which is precisely why the reduced inspection scope must be scrutinized for credibility. Candidates who select this are confusing scope reduction with product substitution.
Option D: By an automated model with appraiser sign-off
An automated valuation model with an appraiser signature describes a hybrid or an AVM with review, and simply signing another party's output does not make the result the appraiser's own opinion. In a desktop appraisal the appraiser performs the analysis and reaches the conclusion; only the physical observation is delegated or omitted. Signing a machine-generated value without developing it would raise serious competency and responsibility problems.
Desk Means No Doorstep
A desktop appraisal is done from the desk, so the appraiser never reaches the doorstep. Full analysis, full value opinion, zero personal inspection. Drive-by means the appraiser reached the curb; desktop means the appraiser never left the office.
How to use: Place each product on a single axis of physical observation: full interior and exterior, exterior only, and none at all. Desktop sits at the zero end. Then confirm the option still includes a developed opinion of value, because any option removing the value opinion has left the appraisal category entirely.
Exam Tip
When products are being compared, identify the one variable that changes between them; for desktop versus drive-by versus full, that variable is only the extent of inspection.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Equating a desktop appraisal with an exterior-only or drive-by inspection
- -Failing to disclose the extent of inspection and any extraordinary assumption about condition
- -Accepting a reduced scope without judging whether it can still produce credible assignment results
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests scope of work vocabulary, specifically what varies among appraisal products and what stays constant. USPAP does not define desktop appraisal as a report type; it is a market term describing an assignment where the appraiser develops an opinion of value from records, listing data, prior inspections, photographs, and sometimes a third-party property data collection, without personally inspecting the subject. What makes it an appraisal is that a credible opinion of value is still developed under Standard 1 and communicated under Standard 2. What makes it a desktop is only the inspection element of the scope of work. The appraiser must determine whether that reduced scope is sufficient to produce credible results for the intended use, disclose the extent of inspection in the report, and state any extraordinary assumptions relied on regarding the subject's condition.
Background Knowledge
You need to know that scope of work is determined by the appraiser based on the intended use and intended users, and that the extent of any inspection is a scope-of-work element that must be disclosed. You should also know the difference between an extraordinary assumption, used when a fact is uncertain, and a hypothetical condition, used when a statement is contrary to known fact.
Real-World Application
A lender orders a desktop appraisal on a refinance where a third-party data collector supplies interior photographs and measurements. The appraiser analyzes that data with MLS and public records, discloses that no personal inspection was made, relies on an extraordinary assumption that the reported condition is accurate, and confirms the reduced scope is acceptable for the intended use.
More Emerging Methods Questions
How does an alternative inspection method affect the appraiser's disclosure obligations?
A collector's photographs show a condition the appraiser believes needs specialist assessment. What is the appropriate step?
What responsibility does an appraiser retain for an error originating in a third-party database?
Under current USPAP guidance, what is the output of an automated valuation model before an appraiser analyzes it?
Which assignment type still requires the appraiser to develop an opinion of value?
A model returns an estimate far from the appraiser's own conclusion. What is the appropriate response?
What does it mean that a tool cannot comply with USPAP?
An appraiser is asked to review an assignment where an AVM supplied the value. What does the review examine?
Why is the date a data extract was pulled worth recording in the workfile?
How does the scope of work rule apply when a lender requests a desktop assignment?
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