Inspection scope

Not every appraisal means somebody walks through your house.

There are four levels of inspection: full interior and exterior, exterior only, desktop and hybrid. The lender picks the one the loan needs.

Same profession, same standards. The difference is how much of the house anyone sees.

An open laptop glowing on a dark desk at dusk beside a fan of printed property photographs and a coffee cup.

The four

What each one involves

The value opinion is the appraiser's either way. What changes is how they gathered the facts underneath it.

Most complete

Full interior and exterior

The appraiser walks the property inside and out, measures, photographs every room and rates condition first hand. This is the traditional appraisal and the one behind most purchase loans.

Who sees the house: The appraiser
Typical use: Purchases, most FHA work

Exterior only

Drive by

The appraiser views the property from the street, photographs the front and confirms it exists and matches records. The interior is assumed from records and prior data rather than observed.

Who sees the house: The appraiser, outside only
Typical use: Some refinances, portfolio review

No site visit

Desktop

The appraiser never attends. The report is built from public records, listing data, prior photographs and comparable sales. Everything rests on how good that existing data is.

Who sees the house: Nobody, on this order
Typical use: Some purchase loans

Split job

Hybrid, also called bifurcated

Somebody else visits and collects the property data, photographs and measurements. The appraiser then analyzes that data and forms the value opinion without attending.

Who sees the house: A trained data collector
Typical use: Faster jobs, wider coverage

The trade

What you gain and what you give up

Lighter scopes exist because a full inspection is not always proportionate to the risk. A low loan to value refinance on a tract home in a well documented subdivision is a very different problem from a purchase of a custom property on acreage.

You gain speed and lower cost. You give up first hand observation. A desktop report cannot know about the water damage in a back bedroom, because nobody looked. Whether that makes a difference depends on the property and the loan.

The appraiser still signs the report and is responsible for the opinion under the same professional standards.

Full inspections

When you want the full version

For a complex property, or when a lot rides on the number, pay for a full interior inspection by a certified appraiser.

If you order privately rather than through a lender, you set the scope. Pocket Appraisal handles residential valuations across the country.

Questions

Common questions

Is a desktop appraisal a real appraisal?

Yes. It is a licensed appraiser's opinion of value, signed by them and produced under the same professional standards. What differs is the scope of work. The appraiser did not inspect the property, and the report has to disclose that, along with the assumptions it rests on.

Who is the person who shows up for a hybrid appraisal?

A property data collector. They photograph, measure and record condition, then pass that to the appraiser who performs the analysis. They are not forming an opinion of value and are typically not the licensed appraiser signing the report.

Can I ask for a full inspection instead?

On a lender ordered appraisal, the scope is set by the lender and the loan program, not by the borrower. If you are ordering privately, you choose the scope yourself, and for anything unusual a full interior inspection is generally worth it.

Is a drive by less accurate?

It rests on more assumptions, which is a different thing from being wrong. For a standard house in a well documented neighborhood with reliable records, an exterior report can land very close. For an unusual property, or one whose condition has changed, the unseen interior is where the risk sits.

Go deeper

Not sure which one you were given?

Describe what arrived and we will tell you which scope it was.