WHAT IS AN APPRAISAL?
Generally, a real estate appraisal is an unbiased estimate of fair market value made by a qualified appraiser for a particular property at a particular time. It is the estimate of the most probable price a typical buyer would pay for the property in a competitive and open market (see definition of Market Value).
The fundamental use of an appraisal is to provide an estimate of value, to be used in making real estate decisions.