When it’s important to determine the value of one’s belongings, real estate, or character, an appraisal is necessary. Now, these are often required before loans can be approved, and they help lenders and individuals determine the value of an item.
For this reason, you may be wondering if this is public information that you can source. So, are appraisals public record?
The short answer is no, but it’s a lot more complicated than that, so stick around to learn more in this comprehensive guide.
What Are Appraisals?
An appraisal is a professional or exact measurement of the value of something.
The most common example is a property appraisal or real estate appraisal. An organization compares the value of a home to the value of similar homes around it; this is often required by a mortgage lender before approving a loan.
Then, they take into account the age of the home, the size of the property, and other details about the house. From there, an appraisal price is assigned to the property.
That said, this is only one type of appraisal, and you’ll find that personal property and jewelry appraisals are also popular, along with performance appraisals that judge someone’s character.
Regardless of the appraisal type, the information available may vary, along with whether or not it’s available to the public.
Are Appraisals Public Record?
No, appraisals are not public records. This means that the public can not view them. The only time this changes is if the appraisal is involved in some type of court case; whether that be a criminal case or a civil suit. In other words, these records are sealed unless prompted to become public.
Appraisals might not be public records, but if you want to find the value of something, information about it is usually posted after the transaction. For example, you can see how much a home sold for on Zillow and other real estate apps.
Depending on the type of appraisal and the item, you can also see how much things sold for at auction and in other cases.
Public Alternatives to Appraisals
Appraisals may not be available to the public, especially in the real estate world. While this may be the case, that doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives that are public records.
In fact, you’ll find that there is a lot of information you can find; we recommend using UnMask’s public record search tool to find everything in one place.
That said, we dive into the alternative options below.
County Tax Assessor
If you want to find information about the value of a property, the county tax assessor is a good option. You’ll be able to find what the property was assessed at, and this will help you determine how much the taxes are and how much the house was sold for.
While this is a viable option, that doesn’t mean it works for every type of appraisal. You won’t always be able to find details about jewelry or other personal belongings, so keep this in mind for real estate appraisals.
County Clerk
The county clerk tends to store records about the value of property. As long as you know where a property is located, you should be able to find the value of a home. What’s more, the county clerk may have information about other types of appraisals, so keep this in mind.
Still, county clerks tend to work well for real estate appraisals, and that’s about it. You might get lucky with other transactions, but we don’t recommend counting on it.
Online Search
Sometimes, a simple online search is all you need to find what you’re looking for. When you’re looking for information about the value of something, you can use Zillow and other property search tools for an estimate of the cost.
However, online search also provides opportunities to find details about other transaction types. This depends on the vendor and the item, but you might get lucky on Bing, Google, and other search engines.
Are Appraisals Public Record? Our Final Thoughts
So, are appraisals public record? Ultimately, no, you can’t find information about appraisals unless you’re the lender or part of the deal. That said, you can always find an alternative that provides similar information.
For this reason, we always recommend running a search with UnMask if you want to find information about appraisals. Whether it’s the value of a property or something else, it should be able to help.
