The Unofficial Top Reasons Appraisers Have the Best (and Weirdest) Job

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s really like to be a real estate appraiser, the short answer is this: no two days are the same—and some of them should probably come with a waiver.

Here’s a tongue-in-cheek look at why appraisers secretly love what they do… even while loudly insisting they don’t.

10. We Get to Use Words No One Else Does
Nothing clears a dinner table faster than casually dropping “external obsolescence” into conversation. Bonus points if you explain it and everyone still looks confused.

9. Wildlife Encounters, Indoors
Some professions go to the zoo. Appraisers occasionally discover it has relocated to a basement, attic, or crawlspace—often unannounced and mildly offended by our presence.

8. A Career with a Scapegoat History
Every industry has baggage. Ours includes being blamed—incorrectly—for entire economic collapses. No big deal. Just history.

7. Access to Areas You Didn’t Know Existed
Appraisers see crawlspaces, attics, and storage rooms homeowners either forgot about… or were actively hoping no one would ever rediscover.

6. Neighborhood Surveillance Vibes
There’s nothing quite like slowly photographing houses while taking notes to make an entire block suddenly very invested in their window blinds or calling the authorities.

5. Accidentally Annoying Salespeople
Asking for support instead of optimism can really ruin someone’s day. It’s not personal—it’s just market data, and it does not care about your feelings.

4. The Tablet Effect
Carry a tablet with confidence and people assume you know exactly what you’re doing—even if you’re just triple-checking the house number and hoping no one noticed.

3. Writing a Novel to Explain One Number
Appraisers often spend hours documenting how they arrived at a value.

2. Interior Design Discoveries
Yes, people really do decorate exactly how they want. And yes, appraisers have seen things that can never be unseen—and should never be appraised again.

1. Knowing USPAP Isn’t a Medical Condition
Being part of a very small group of people who know this fact never stops being funny. Or necessary.

Bonus Reason: The Stories
Ask any appraiser long enough and you’ll hear tales involving livestock, secret rooms, mystery additions, and renovations that appear to defy both physics and logic.

Being an appraiser isn’t glamorous, and it’s rarely boring. It’s a profession built on curiosity, consistency, and an extremely well-developed sense of humor.

And if nothing else, it’s comforting to know there’s someone out there who can calmly explain why your Elvis wall art doesn’t add value.

Pittsburgh Housing in 2025: Affordable Doesn’t Mean Effortless

Pittsburgh continues to draw attention as one of the more affordable major housing markets in the U.S. Compared to coastal cities, prices remain modest—but affordability does not mean the market is simple or risk-free.

Understanding how the local market functions helps buyers and sellers set realistic expectations for pricing and appraisals.

What “Affordable” Means Locally

Many Pittsburgh neighborhoods and nearby Westmoreland County communities still offer price points well below national averages. From an appraisal standpoint, this affordability is supported by steady demand, diverse housing stock, and gradual appreciation rather than rapid spikes.

Pittsburgh’s market has historically been more stable than speculative.

Why Prices Stay Grounded

Unlike fast-growth regions, Pittsburgh has slower population growth, an existing housing supply built for a larger historical population, and a diversified economy. These factors limit extreme price swings and are reflected in consistent, data-supported appraisals.

Affordability vs. Monthly Cost

Even in an affordable market, rising interest rates, taxes, insurance, and maintenance affect purchasing power. Appraisers reflect what buyers are actually paying—not what headlines suggest should be affordable.

Neighborhoods Drive Value

Pittsburgh is not a single market. Values vary widely by neighborhood, school district, and property condition. Appraisals closely reflect these local differences rather than citywide averages.

What This Means for Buyers and Sellers

Buyers should expect values to be well-supported by recent sales, with limited room for speculative overbidding. Sellers benefit most from realistic pricing tied to neighborhood data, not national rankings.

Pittsburgh’s affordability is built on stability. Values grow steadily, appraisals are data-driven, and neighborhood factors matter more than trends. That consistency remains one of the region’s strongest housing advantages.

Price per Square Foot Is not an Indicator of Value

There are examples throughout the country where the value of a property is referenced by price per square foot. Human beings often want a simple concept that is easy to convey and understand. This simple unit of measure takes the sale price of the house and divides it by the square footage of the house to derive at a simple unit measure of assumed value. Even if this was a trusted metric, unfortunately, the square footage might not even be right as there is no universal standard that determines this to make it reliable. Many trusted real estate websites and even real estate professionals refer to this metric when selling or attempting to use a valuation model to determine estimated value or list price. Let me tell you why this is not a good unit of measure to value your property.

First you need to understand that in order for this to make sense, all factors for marketability must be equal across the board. Its like saying that the value of a car is equal to the price per horse power regardless of the brand, style, age and condition. That makes about as much sense as determining value as a cost per square foot. Just like there are multiple factors that make up a car besides the horsepower, there are many factors that make up the value of a property that can include the quality of construction, condition, how many bedrooms and bathrooms or even the size of the lot. When you break down a sale price or assumed value based only on the gross living area of a property, you eliminate the other factors that all contribute to the value of the property.

Let’s look at a hypothetical example which happens quite often in Westmoreland County and use a 2,000 sf 2 story home built in the early 2000’s using average quality components and workmanship. These homes have 4 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms above grade with a finished family room and full bathroom in the basement.

Example 1- Located in Murrysville and is located in an established residential plan with a lot size of approximately 1/2 acre. The home has been well maintained and has a fully remodeled kitchen and bathrooms. This home also has a 2 car integral garage.

Example 1- sold for $350,000 which calculates to $175.00 per square foot.

Example 2- Located in Washington Township which is just north of Murrysville but is serviced by a different school district. This house is located in a more residential rural area and sits on 5 acres of property. This home is exactly the same as example one except this home did not have any remodeling and it has a 3 car detached garage that was built 5 years ago. Its been well maintained but most items have not been replaced.

 Example 2- sold for $400,000 which calculates for $200.00 per square foot.

So which one is right- $175.00 or $200.00? Actually, neither. As you can see by these examples, while the houses may be the same in square footage, there are many determining factors that contribute to the value of a property. The higher price per square foot for the second example can be attributed to the lot size and newly built 3 car garage but these are factors that have nothing to do with the square footage of the house.

Our job as an appraiser is to determine those factors that contribute to the marketability of a property. These can include location, quality, condition, utility, lot size and additional amenities such as pools, outbuildings, etc. We use multiple methods to determine how these impact the determinations of both buyers and sellers and apply them accordingly. I can emphatically say that we never calculate value using the price per square foot “method” because we don’t have such a method. The only way price per square foot should be applied is when determining the cost to build a structure.