Can I hire my own appraiser for my house?

Yes, for non-lending purposes you can hire an appraiser directly, for example before listing your home, for estate planning, or for a tax or divorce valuation, and you pay the appraiser yourself. For a mortgage you cannot choose the appraiser: the lender orders the appraisal, and the report belongs to the lender even though the borrower pays for it.

Yes. Outside a lender-ordered appraisal for a mortgage transaction, you can engage a Hawaii licensed or certified appraiser directly. Homeowners order appraisals for pre-listing and pre-purchase valuations, as well as estate and probate work, divorce settlements, property tax matters, and insurance assessments.

Yes. Homeowners can hire an Idaho-licensed or certified appraiser directly for non-lender purposes, such as estate and probate valuations, date-of-death valuations, divorce settlements, tax appeals, and bankruptcy-related valuations. For a mortgage, the lender normally orders the appraisal instead, and the buyer typically pays for it.

Yes. A homeowner can hire a state licensed or certified appraiser directly for non-lending purposes such as an estate valuation, a property tax appeal, PMI removal, or a pre-sale valuation. For a mortgage, the lender typically orders the appraisal, so the homeowner generally does not choose the appraiser for that transaction. Practitioner reports of this kind are typically completed within about a week.

Yes, you can engage a licensed or certified appraiser directly for non-lender purposes such as a divorce proceeding or a listing decision. For a federally related transaction, including an FHA insured mortgage, the appraiser must be state certified (Certified Residential or Certified General) and appear on the ASC National Registry. Trainee-level appraisers cannot independently appraise property for federally related transactions.

Yes. Oklahoma is a voluntary licensing state, so a real estate appraiser credential is not required to perform an appraisal unless it involves a federally related transaction or a transaction covered by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). As a practical matter, virtually all residential mortgage appraisals are performed by credentialed appraisers because lenders require it.

Yes. You can engage a licensed or certified appraiser directly for a private, non-lender appraisal, and homeowners in Rhode Island commonly do so for estate and probate work, divorce, and property-tax appeals. Rhode Island has been a mandatory licensing state since January 1, 2007, so anyone who issues an opinion or analysis of real property value must hold one of the state's four appraiser credentials.