Usually, when we plan to buy a product or a property, we conduct different examinations of that product or property. For instance, if you want to buy a mobile, you will search for its features, working, for a better price elsewhere and reasonable price or not, etc.
All these steps come under two terms known as Inspection and appraisal. These terms are most frequently used in the real estate and renewed products market.
Key Takeaways
- The inspection involves examining a property or item to identify its condition, while appraisal involves determining the value of the property or item.
- Inspection focuses on identifying issues or defects, while appraisal focuses on estimating the property’s worth.
- Inspection is done before purchasing a property, while an appraisal is done for financing or insurance purposes.
Inspection vs Appraisal
Inspection is an objective evaluation of a property to identify and address potential problems. An appraisal is determining the market value of a property or asset, which can be used for financing, insurance, taxation, and legal proceedings.

Inspection, the word itself, directs us to the meaning of checking or scrutinizing something. We have a certified inspector to inspect the product or our property.
Inspection is a kind of scrutiny to evaluate the condition of the property, home, antique pieces, and machines. Inspector visits and checks the property and gives a detailed overview of the property or product.
The appraisal is done after the inspection process and gives the property’s value or a product. There will be a few other quality checks in the appraisal process, such as service capability and performance production.
The trained inspectors perform an appraisal and evaluates the market value of the property as the conclusion.
Comparison Table
Parameters of Comparison | Inspection | Appraisal |
---|---|---|
Definition | Inspection is an organized process for the evaluation of the condition of a property. | Report on the price and performance conditions and some significant criteria. |
Outcomes | Report on working (if it’s a product) or condition(for the property). | Qualified inspectors perform inspection. |
Order of occurrence | Inspection is done before the appraisal. | While the appraisal is done after the inspection. |
Types | While the appraisal is done after the Inspection. | Property appraisal, product appraisal. |
Performed by | Inspection is performed by qualified inspectors. | Appraisers perform the appraisal. |
What is Inspection?
Inspection is the process of examination of a property or a product that gives the condition or working and specifications overview. A qualified inspector carries out inspection.
The Inspection gives a detailed report of the property after an examination which helps the buyers to get an overview of the property without actually visiting the property or product. Usually, we come across these words in the real estate business.
For instance, if you want to sell your car through some x website. Usually, certified websites accept the application of the machine after a series of tests that evaluate the condition, performance, and working of the car.
The exact process of examination is done in the real estate market too. Before selling a property, an inspection is done for a property.
Inspection is the primary examination of the property, considered a home—the inspection reports on the condition of the house.
Inspection can also be stated as the pre-purchase activity performed by a licensed inspector to give out the report on the property. This process is deep and contains several parts in the examination.
If you consider a home inspection, an inspector invests multiple hours doing a comprehensive review of each segment house, from materials used in construction to the painting of the house. Furniture, walls, doors, restrooms, everything will be checked thoroughly.

What is Appraisal?
An appraisal is performed next to Inspection. A review is not deep and concentrates more on evaluating the market value.
An appraiser not only checks the worth of the property but also compares the market value of the product with similar properties around it.
The appraisal can also be done without actually visiting the property, properties can be compared in the office, and market values can also be compared with the significant features of the office itself.
An appraisal can be defined as the valuation process of property, such as real estate or antique property. An appraisal is done by a certified examiner known as an appraiser.
An appraiser will have a designation from the regulatory authorities which govern the jurisdiction. Apart from real estate, this process is also used in taxation and insurance companies to know the actuproperty’s real market value.
For example, if one wants to sell his property, It undergoes the appraisal process next to Inspection. Review of the property can be done by visiting the property or in the office.
An appraiser checks for all the features of the property at a glance and reviews the surrounding prices of the property, and validates the price, whether it’s a fair price or not. And hence he decides the cost of the property considering the features and surrounding properties’ market value.

Main Differences Between Inspection and Appraisal
- Inspection is a deep examination of the property,, which gives out a thorough report on the property’s condition. At the same time, an appraisal is done to compare the market value and bring out a fair property price.
- Though both processes take place in the real estate business, a licensed inspector does inspection, and an authorized appraiser does an appraisal.
- Inspection mainly concentrates on the working and features of the property. On the contrary, appraisal concentrates on the property’s fair market price.
- Inspection is done by visiting the property and spending hours together on the examination of the property. An appraisal can be done from the office too.
- Inspection is a dive into the process than an appraisal. As appraisal doesn’t require that deep examination of the property, it’s just a general assessment of home.
