Newz: Why AI Can’t Replace Appraisers,
Value: Absolute or Relative?
October 3, 2025
What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)
- LIA AD: Weather Impact
- Five Reasons AI Cannot Replace Real Estate Appraisers, By Timothy Andersen
- Malibu (CA) Waterfront Home for $110,000,000
- How Bureaucratic Overreach Turned Real Estate Appraisers into Scapegoats
- September 2025 Housing Market Updates for Appraisers
- Value: Relatively Absolute or Absolutely Relative?, By Brent Bowen
- Mortgage applications decreased 12.7 percent from one week earlier
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Five Reasons AI Cannot Replace Real Estate Appraisers
by Timothy Andersen
Excerpts:
QUESTION: When I got involved in real estate appraisal, nobody ever told me about AI, UAD 3.6, AVMs, and all the changes that would take place. I can’t keep up with these changes and the changes I will have to make to the way I appraise and report those appraisals. Please tell me there is some good news out there about the way I have chosen to make a living! Is there any such news?
RESPONSE: Traditionally, when there were questions of real property value, the party with the questions called a real property appraiser to answer them. Real estate appraisers are professionals who estimate the value of properties like homes or land. They are trained, licensed experts who visit properties, study local markets, and follow ethical rules to make fair valuations. Lately, artificial intelligence (AI) and computer models called Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) are helping estimate property values, thus possibly decreasing the demand for real estate appraisers.
From your question, you are asking if these innovations in AI are going to take your job. In all candor, AI is going to take some appraisal jobs. But the good news is that, with some upgrading on your part, that should not be a worry.
Reason 1
One reason you’ll get all the credit (or blame) is that humans exercise judgment, follow ethics, and accept responsibility. Algorithms cannot execute these since, to some extent, judgment, responsibility, etc. have an emotional component to them, rather than purely logic or reason. Remember, AI is a tool to help you. In so many ways it cannot replace you (nor was that its design).
Reason 2
One reason you’ll get all the credit (or blame) is that humans exercise judgment, follow ethics, and accept responsibility. Algorithms cannot execute these…
Reason 3
One reason it cannot replace you is simply because AI (i.e., AVMs) struggles with unique or complex houses, especially if those are rural properties…
Conclusion
At this point in the response, you rightly ask, “What does any of this have to do with me!?” That answer is essentially up to you….
To read more, Click Here
My comments: What AI means for your appraisals (and many jobs) can be scary. This article is understandable and comprehensive. Worth reading the details.
