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Dear Kelly: I have a seller/client that wanted more info on an appraisal. One of his questions was "is the appraisal recorded with the county and will it affect taxes?". He's also afraid to get an appraisal because he's scared he's going to "get a bad one" and wind up with a severely undervalued home. What are your thoughts?

Answer: I get these questions often. First, an appraisal is a private document and the intended users of the report are controlled by the client - in this case -  your seller. Per Appraiser/Client fiduciary relationship, I do not share any information about a client's private appraisal with any other party or County, without the permission or authorization of your client. Second, In today's market, many sellers are proactive in ordering a private appraisal up front, prior to or during the listing process in order to be prepared, have knowledge of the value, be educated and double check the Realtor CMA in order to get the highest sales price the market will bear. In addition, an appraisal from a St Cert appraiser may be used to submit in case the client needs to challenge a lender appraisal or automated value (computer generated value) by lender. If your client does not like the appraisal results or the opinion of market value, then he or she simply does not need to share that private information with any other parties. If a second appraisal demonstrates similar results, knowledge of the appraised value up front in the selling process allows a seller to make a more educated decision with less emotion.
Kelly Kellogg 
The Appraisal Expert 
Author, "ABC's of a CMA, Comparative Market Analysis"
Buy the book at www.TheAppraisalExpert.com