Chief Appraiser

THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
Before we begin —
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Welcome to Chief Appraiser

A couple things worth knowing before you dive in.

Still Being Built — And That's Where You Come In

Chief Appraiser is in beta. That means the tool you're using today is real and already useful, but it's still growing — more guidelines, sharper search, more ways to ask a question the way you'd actually ask it. Every question you search, and everything you tell us through the Feedback button, is how we decide what gets built next.

Why not just use AI?

Because AI alone can sound confident and still be wrong. Chief Appraiser starts with the real guideline document — the actual page, the actual language — so you always know exactly where an answer came from. The plain-English summary underneath is AI, doing what it's actually good at: explaining a citation, not guessing at one.

Read our Terms of Use

Chief
Appraiser
The Body of Knowledge for Residential Real Estate Appraisal
Using Chief Appraiser means you accept our Terms of Use.  ·  In beta. Help us build it →

Standards, Licensing & Oversight

The organizations that write the rules and oversee who's allowed to practice. Chief Appraiser cites and indexes public guideline text — it doesn't replace membership, certification, or owning the real thing.

The Appraisal Foundation (TAF)
Writes and publishes USPAP. Every certified appraiser is required to own a current copy — Chief Appraiser indexes short, cited USPAP excerpts to help you find the right passage fast, but the full current edition should come from TAF directly.
appraisalfoundation.org →
Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC)
The federal body that oversees state appraiser licensing boards and maintains the National Registry of certified/licensed appraisers.
asc.gov →
Appraisal Institute (AI)
The professional association behind the MAI and SRA designations, plus continuing education for appraisers.
appraisalinstitute.org →
Society of Chief Appraisers (SCA)
A volunteer association of bank and lender Chief Valuation Officers, holding regional symposiums on collateral valuation and appraisal oversight.
societyofchiefappraisers.org →

Industry News

Coverage of the market, regulation, and technology shaping the appraisal profession. Chief Appraiser cites and links to reporting — never reprints it.

Appraisal Buzz
Technology, regulation, and market news for the valuation industry.
appraisalbuzz.com →
Working RE
Quarterly appraiser magazine covering market trends, E&O risk, and profession-wide surveys.
workingre.com →
Valuation Review
Independent, nationwide market intelligence for the appraisal industry since 2002.
valuationreview.com →
Appraisers Blogs
Appraiser-written commentary on AMCs, industry news, and day-to-day practice issues.
appraisersblogs.com →

Appraiser Podcasts

Two of the longest-running voices in the industry — added July 2026, per Kelly.

Voice of Appraisal — Phil Crawford
Talk-radio-style show on appraisal news, real estate trends, and industry politics. Running since 2015 — over a decade covering the profession.
voiceofappraisal.com →
The Appraiser Coach — Dustin Harris
Business-mastery podcast for appraisal business owners — 660+ episodes since 2010, roughly two new episodes a week.
theappraisercoach.com →

Appraisal Report Software

The major form-filling platforms appraisers use to actually produce a report. Chief Appraiser doesn't compete with these — it's a research/citation tool you'd use alongside whichever one you already run.

Bradford Technologies — ClickFORMS
Form-filling appraisal report software with a Word-based interface and built-in calculations. Over 37 years in the appraisal software industry.
bradfordsoftware.com →
ACI
Part of the First American family of companies. Full forms-and-workflow suite for appraisers — 500+ residential, commercial, and client-specific forms.
aciweb.com →
a la mode — TOTAL
Founded in 1985 by an appraiser. TOTAL is a la mode's flagship form-filling software, with a mobile companion app for on-site inspections.
alamode.com →

Valuation Tools

Analytics and adjustment-support tools that go beyond form-filling — built to strengthen the reasoning behind a value, not just format it.

GandySoft — PAIRS
Paired Analysis In Realty Simplified — built by Nevada appraiser Michael Gandy to automate paired-sales analysis and give adjustment support real statistical backing, using far more matched pairs than doing it by hand.
gandysoft.com →

Know an organization that belongs here? Let us know.

Chief Appraiser  ·  5638 passages indexed  ·  chiefappraiser.org