What is a desk review appraisal?
A desk review appraisal is a second appraiser's review of a finished appraisal report, completed from the desk with no visit to the property. The reviewer checks the subject data, the comparable sales, the adjustments and the math, then states whether the original appraiser's conclusions are credible and whether the report meets the client's requirements.
Table of Contents
The item under examination is the report, not the real estate.
That distinction carries the whole topic. In an appraisal, an appraiser forms an opinion of value for a property. In an appraisal review, a reviewer forms an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work. Review assignments have their own rules in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, where Standard 3 covers developing a review and Standard 4 covers reporting one.
Desk reviews come in two depths. In the lighter version, the reviewer gives an opinion about the report alone. In the heavier version, the scope of work asks the reviewer to develop a separate opinion of value, which makes the reviewer an appraiser on that assignment and has to be disclosed as such.
Desk review vs desktop appraisal vs field review
These three products get confused because none of them match the picture most people have of an appraisal.
| Product | What it produces | Property visit |
|---|---|---|
| Desk review appraisal | An opinion about an existing appraisal report | None |
| Desktop appraisal | A new opinion of value from third-party data | None |
| Field review appraisal | An opinion about an existing report, plus inspection | Yes, at least the exterior |
If the goal is a value opinion without an inspection, the product is a desktop appraisal, and RealVals covers how those work in its guide to desktop appraisals. A desk review assumes an appraisal already exists.
Field review is the step up from desk review. The reviewer drives the subject property and often the comparables, which answers questions a report alone cannot settle, such as whether a condition rating holds up or whether a comparable sits across a busy road. The tradeoff is time and cost. For how inspection depth changes an assignment, see the explanation of a full appraisal versus an exterior-only appraisal.
What form is used for a desk review appraisal?
There is no single industry-standard desk review form. Most desk reviews run on a lender's or appraisal management company's own template, or as a short narrative report. Fannie Mae publishes field review forms, Form 2000 and Form 2000A, but those assignments require a property visit, so they are not desk review forms.
Because the templates are proprietary, the questions differ from client to client. One lender's form may ask for a yes or no on twenty compliance items. Another may want written commentary on comparable selection and a recommendation.
What does not change is the reporting duty. Standard 4 requires the review report to identify the client, the report under review, the scope of work performed and the reviewer's opinions with reasons. Those elements have to appear whatever the form looks like. The Appraisal Foundation publishes and updates the standards through its Appraisal Standards Board.
The report being reviewed is usually a familiar form. Single-family lending work typically arrives on the 1004 appraisal form, and RealVals keeps a plain-language rundown of the rest in its real estate appraisal forms guide.
Commercial appraisal review forms
Commercial reviews are mostly narrative rather than form driven. Income property varies too much for a checkbox template, so a commercial review report usually walks through the income approach, rent and expense assumptions, capitalization rate support and the sales comparison analysis in writing.
Searches for a commercial appraisal review form often end at an internal document. Federally regulated lenders are required to keep written policies for reviewing appraisals and evaluations under the bank regulators' interagency appraisal guidelines, which trace back to FIRREA. Many institutions built their own review checklists to satisfy those policies, and those checklists are not published.
What a reviewer checks in the report
A desk review works through the report in order, looking for anything unsupported or inconsistent.
- Subject facts. Living area, lot size, room count, year built, condition and quality ratings, and whether they match public records and the sketch.
- Comparable selection. Proximity, sale dates, similarity and whether better sales were skipped. RealVals explains the usual expectations in its appraisal comparable guidelines.
- Adjustments. Whether each one is supported and applied consistently across the grid, and whether the totals stay within reason.
- Arithmetic and internal agreement. Grid math, reconciliation, and whether the commentary matches the numbers.
- Sales history and listing history for the subject and the comparables.
- Exhibits and certifications. Photos, sketch, map, signature, license status and the required certifications.
Readers who want to follow along in their own report can use the walkthrough in how to read an appraisal.
When lenders and attorneys order a desk review
Lenders order desk reviews as quality control. Common triggers include a pre-funding check on a loan with unusual characteristics, a post-closing sample pulled for audit, due diligence before a loan is sold, and a reconsideration of value request from a borrower or agent. Private and bridge lenders use them too, often alongside the kind of fast work described in hard money appraisals.
Attorneys order them for a different reason. A review gives an independent read on whether an opposing report will hold up. That comes up in divorce appraisals where two reports disagree, in estate disputes involving date of death appraisals, and in property tax appeals. State appraiser boards also use reviews when investigating complaints.
What a desk review cannot do
A desk review is limited to the information in the report and to data the reviewer can verify remotely. It cannot confirm interior condition, undisclosed defects or a view the photos do not show.
So a review can tell a client that the support is thin. It cannot always tell them the value is wrong. When the stakes justify it, clients move up to a field review or order a fresh appraisal instead.
Where to go next
To see which report form your appraisal was written on, and what each one is meant to cover, start with the Real Estate Appraisal Forms guide at real estate appraisal forms. It names the residential forms by number and explains the inspection scope behind each.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a desk review appraisal the same as a desktop appraisal?
No. A desktop appraisal is a new appraisal of a property, written without an inspection. A desk review appraisal examines an appraisal report that already exists and says whether the work is credible and complete. One produces a value opinion from scratch. The other grades somebody else's value opinion and the support behind it.
What form is used for a desk review appraisal?
There is no single industry-standard desk review form. Most desk reviews are completed on a lender's or appraisal management company's own template, or as a short narrative review report. Fannie Mae publishes field review forms, Form 2000 for one-unit homes and Form 2000A for two- to four-unit properties, but those assignments include a property visit.
Can a desk review change the appraised value?
A desk review does not rewrite the original report. The reviewer can find errors, weak comparable selection or unsupported adjustments, and the client may then ask the original appraiser to address them. If the scope of work calls for it, the reviewer can also develop a separate opinion of value, which becomes its own appraisal.
Who can perform a desk review appraisal?
A licensed or certified appraiser who is competent in that property type and market. Reviewing residential work in San Francisco or Marin County takes local knowledge of neighborhoods, lot conditions and sale patterns. A reviewer also has to stay independent, which means no financial interest in the loan, the sale or the outcome of a case.
