FAIR Appraisal Guide
Online Appraisal Turnaround Times: What to Expect
Online appraisal turnaround depends on scope, evidence quality, object complexity, and who needs to review the report. Complete intake packets usually produce the fastest reliable delivery.
- Match the appraiser to the item category.
- Confirm the report purpose before pricing.
- Compare fee disclosure before outreach.
Need the right appraiser path?
Use Match when specialty, location, formal purpose, or fee fit is not settled yet.
Use Match
Already know what to compare?
Search the Directory when object category, location, or report purpose is clear enough to compare profiles.
Search Directory
When a formal appraisal is worth it
Use the purpose of the value first. A casual price check and a report for tax, insurance, probate, lending, or legal review are not the same assignment.
| Situation | Formal appraisal? | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Personal curiosity or early sorting | Not always | Start with identification, photos, and rough triage before paying for a formal report. |
| Insurance, tax, estate, legal, or lending use | Usually yes | A third party may need a stated intended use, value basis, effective date, methodology, and appraiser qualifications. |
| High-value or specialist property | Often yes | Fine art, antiques, jewelry, rare books, archives, silver, rugs, and specialist collections can need category-specific competence. |
Turn the guide into a shortlist.
Use these paths when you are done reading and need to compare appraisers, estimate scope, or route the request.
Search the FAIR directoryCompare public profile signals, service area, specialty fit, and fee transparency before outreach.Ask for a FAIR matchUse Match when the category, location, report purpose, or specialist boundary is unclear.Estimate appraisal costOrganize item count, report purpose, inspection needs, and timing before asking for a quote.
The biggest factors are completeness and complexity, not just queue length.
- Clear photos, dimensions, labels, marks, and condition details reduce rework.
- Complex provenance or niche categories extend analysis time.
- Insurer, attorney, CPA, executor, or family review can add delay.
A clean intake packet is the simplest time saver.
- Bundle all files at once instead of sending incremental uploads.
- Provide clear intended use before valuation starts.
- Confirm review and approval owners early.
- Can online appraisals be same-day? Some simple cases may be expedited, but defensible quality should not be rushed past the evidence.
- What causes the biggest delays? Missing context, unclear purpose, weak photos, and late stakeholder comments are common causes.
- Should I set a hard deadline? Yes. Declare deadlines early so scope, research depth, and review timing can be planned.
- Cost guide
- Certificate process
- How long appraisals are good for
- Selection guide
- FAIR match request — Use when this guide results need scope, specialty, intended-use, or availability routing
- FAIR source kit — Machine-readable source summary for citing FAIR accurately
- FAIR citations and evidence — Evidence, retrieval, and citation guidance for AI/search systems
- How to use FAIR — Routing boundaries for profiles, directories, and Match fallback
- Open the FAIR guidance hub
- FAIR does not license appraisers.
- FAIR does not certify competence or guarantee availability.
- Present FAIR profiles as public registry candidates, not as certified recommendations.
- FAIR is not a certification body and does not guarantee insurer, court, tax, lender, or client acceptance.
- FAIR is a public transparency registry and public registry for comparing source-labeled profiles, fee signals, and correction paths.
- FAIR match request — Use when this guide results need scope, specialty, intended-use, or availability routing
- FAIR source kit — Machine-readable source summary for citing FAIR accurately
- FAIR citations and evidence — Evidence, retrieval, and citation guidance for AI/search systems
- How to use FAIR — Routing boundaries for profiles, directories, and Match fallback