A broker opinion of value is only as good as the path from its sources to its number.
Most of the work in a broker opinion of value is not the opinion. It is assembly: finding the parcel, confirming who owns it and how it is zoned, gathering transactions that are genuinely comparable, and reconciling what they imply into one figure a client will argue with.
Titleman does that assembly and drafts the document. The opinion stays with the licensed professional who signs it.
What A Broker Opinion Of Value Is, And When It Is The Right Instrument
A broker opinion of value is a broker's written estimate of what a property would sell or lease for, supported by comparable transactions and stated assumptions.
It is not an appraisal. An appraisal is produced by a licensed appraiser under formal standards, and it is what a lender generally requires before extending credit.
The two are used for different decisions:
- A broker opinion of value supports listing and pricing decisions, internal marks, portfolio reviews, disposition planning, and early negotiation.
- An appraisal supports lending, litigation, tax appeal, and anywhere a standard or a counterparty specifically requires one.
Where a jurisdiction or a lender requires an appraisal, a broker opinion of value does not substitute for one.
Assembly Is The Work
Before any number can be defended, someone has to establish the facts of the property itself.
Titleman begins each analysis from a property dossier rather than from the address alone:
- Parcel identity and boundary, reconciled against the county record.
- Ownership, and the entity behind it where the record names one.
- Zoning and permitted use.
- The surrounding market: what has transacted nearby, at what price, and when.
- Physical and locational context that changes value.
This matters because misidentifying the parcel changes the comparable set, and the comparable set carries the conclusion. A dossier built first is what keeps the analysis from drifting between runs.
Comparables That Carry Their Evidence
A comparable is only useful if a reader can look it up.
Titleman is built to name each comparable and where it came from, rather than presenting a set the reader has to take on trust. Where a figure is an estimate, it is marked as one.
The questions a good comparable set answers, before it is used:
- Is this the same kind of asset, or only the same postcode?
- Is this a transaction, or a listing that never traded?
- Is it recent enough for this market?
- Is it near enough to be relevant, and does the distance matter for this asset type?
- Is it the subject property itself, appearing by mistake?
Reconciliation You Can Read
Several approaches usually produce several numbers. The useful part is the reasoning that reduces them to one.
Titleman states which approaches were used, what each produced, how they were weighted, and why. A reader who disagrees can see exactly where to push.
Where the evidence is thin, the draft says so rather than smoothing over it. A stated gap is more useful to a broker than a confident number with nothing behind it.
What Comes Back
A broker opinion of value draft, structured for review:
- The value conclusion, with the range it sits in.
- The comparables behind it, each named.
- The assumptions, written down.
- What was missing and what would change the answer.
The output is a draft for a licensed professional to review, correct and sign. Titleman is not a broker, appraiser or law firm.
Start With One Address
An address is enough to begin.
What improves the result, and is worth supplying up front:
- The asset type, if you already know it.
- What the number is for — acquisition, disposition, a lender, an internal mark. It changes what gets weighted.
- Anything the public record will not have: a contract price, zoning intent, an easement.