Exterior-Only (Drive-By) Appraisals: When You Can't Get Inside

Many people assume an appraisal is impossible if no one can get inside the house. Often it isn’t. In Phoenix and across Maricopa County we regularly prepare exterior-only appraisals, sometimes called “drive-by” appraisals, for private clients.

When an exterior-only appraisal makes sense

• The home has already been sold. Common with estates: the house sold before anyone realized a date-of-death value was needed.
• Tenants live there and an interior visit isn’t practical.
• No one has access: a co-owner won’t cooperate, heirs live out of state, or the property is tied up in a dispute.
• A past effective date, where today’s interior wouldn’t show how the home looked back then anyway.

How it works

1. Exterior inspection. The appraiser views the home and its surroundings from the outside: size and layout clues, roof, yard, pool, garage, the street and any outside influences like traffic or noise.
2. Other sources for the interior. These include listing photos and descriptions from around the effective date (for example, a sale or rental listing), the County Assessor’s records and building sketch for square footage, and permits. Your own photos of the inside count too, and so does your description of what has changed since the effective date.
3. Comparable sales. The same analysis as any appraisal: similar homes that sold around the effective date, adjusted for differences.
4. A written report that states clearly that the interior was not inspected.

What “extraordinary assumption” means

Professional appraisal standards (USPAP) require the appraiser to say plainly when the value depends on something that can’t be verified. In an exterior-only report, that’s usually an extraordinary assumption like this:

The home’s interior condition on the effective date was as shown in the listing photos, the photos the client provided and the client’s description of changes since then, and the public record information (square footage, lot size and so on) is correct.

If that turned out not to be true, for example if the kitchen had been gutted or the square footage in county records is wrong, the value could be different. Stating the assumption up front is what makes the report honest and usable: your attorney, CPA or the court knows exactly what the value rests on.

How to make an exterior-only appraisal stronger

• Send photos of the interior. Ones from around the effective date are best (family photos often show rooms clearly), but recent photos work too if you tell us what has changed since.
• Point us to listing links if the home was listed or rented.
• Tell us about updates, damage or repairs and roughly when they happened.
• Mention anything the county records may have wrong, like an enclosed patio or a converted garage.

Is it accepted?

That depends on who will rely on it. For many private uses (estates, heirs, co-owners, settlements) an exterior-only report with a clearly stated assumption is useful. Lenders have their own rules. Ask your attorney or CPA whether an exterior-only report meets their needs before you order.

Get a value even when you can’t get inside

West Valley Appraisal Services prepares exterior-only and full-inspection residential real estate appraisals, including past-date and date-of-death values, throughout Phoenix / Maricopa County, Arizona.

See date-of-death appraisals, estate and probate appraisals, co-owner buyout appraisals, or call (602) 717-8450.

Written by Jason Clow, State Certified Residential Appraiser #21559. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.