What do I expect/request from appraiser?

[Upgradable]

If I were to have a vendor send a stone to an independent appraiser for me to view, what should the role of the appraiser be?

I''m thinking I want a verification of the certification instead of a full-blown appraisal. I don''t want to spend lots of additional money in my quest to find "my" stone. Once I make my final choice, then I can see asking for the "full monty."

Is this appropriate? How do you "professionals" handle this situation? What experiences have you "consumers" had? Were you satisfied?

 

[denverappraiser]

I do this pretty regularly. There are a fair number of appraisers who will refuse this kind of deal because it's so common for a client to request a simple certificate verification and then have them want to ask a bunch of "free" valuation and market related questions, cut analysis issues and other topics as well. The client ends up feeling upset when they are told that this isn't what was requested and it involves a whole lot more work and expertise. I would guess that at least half of the customers who start out requesting a certificate verification end up deciding that what they really want is a full appraisal during the course of the transaction.

Neil Beaty, GG ISA
Independent Appraisals in Denver