Based in the nearby historic Chesapeake Bay seaport colony of London Town. We at Colony Appraisals have a prominent tradition, in providing dependable valuations for our clients in Maryland and the District of Columbia.

We provide confidential products and services to assist our clients in their specific needs. As providers of experienced valuations throughout our coverage area, we may assist in residential property Resales, Foreclosures, Mortgages,  FHA & Reverse Refi's, Pre-Foreclosure, Private Mortgage Insurance Removal, Relocation, Divorce Settlement, Estate Services and Tax Assessments.

At Colony Appraisals we diligently provide Short Turnround Times, Highest-Quality Standardized Appraisal  Reports, Online Status Reports, Electronic Ordering and Delivery, and of course Competitive Pricing. 

     "Combined with extensive continued education and training, our expert knowledge in our coverage area and along with our certified residential staff, we will continue to help our customers understand the real estate valuation process."

Our primary responsibility is to his or her client.  Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients -- if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender or attorney-- obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a certain level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional.  Here, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others.  Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others.  Appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years. 

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible.  We don't do assignments on contingency fees.  That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes.  We don't do assignments on percentage fees.  That is probably the appraisal profession’s biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck.  We don't do that.  Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines as unethical the acceptance of an assignment that is contingent on "the reporting of a pre-determined result (e.g., opinion of value)," "a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of the client," "the amount of a value opinion," and other things.  This means you can be assured we are working to objectively determine the home or property value.

By offering online up-to-date info, an expert knowledge base of industry terms & definitions, and a simplified ordering system, coupled with automatic report status updates and electronic delivery of the final product, we are able to eliminate any uncertainty associated with the entire valuation process.