Real estate agents are professionals who help in connecting the buyer to the seller. A lot of real estate agents also do rentals wherein they connect tenants to landlords and even maintain the property on the behalf of the landlords.
Real estate agents generally calculate their fee as a percentage of the selling price (in case of sales) and as part of the rent (for rentals). People, who want to sell/let their property, leave the details of their property with the real estate agent (and in fact, even leave the keys of the house so that the real estate agent can arrange for viewings without them getting into any hassle).
So, this real estate school of thought tries to determine the buying power of people in order to determine the course of real estate prices. When it comes to evaluating the real estate trend with regards to a particular place (i.e. locally), this real estate school of thought takes into account various local factors like the unemployment rate, the industrial development in the region, the change in tax policies and any events that might affect the real estate prices in the area.
So a good real estate agent will not just throw a list of available properties to the buyer/ tenant but will actually discuss their needs and make a suggestion. This, in fact, works in the favour of real estate agent in two ways. Firstly, if the real estate agent is able to sell the house they get their commission and secondly, if they make the buyer happy too they earn a good reputation (and hence more business).
The other real estate school of thought doesnt consider those factors at all. According to this real estate school of thought, real estate is always lucrative at all times and at all places. This real estate school of thought advocates looking for great deals.
The real estate appraisal is done using various methods and the real estate appraisal values the property as different for difference purposes e.g. the real estate appraisal might assign 2 different values to the same property (Improved value and vacant value) and again the same/similar property might be assigned different values in a residential zone and a commercial zone.
So, those are the two real estate schools of thought and following either or both calls for time and effort (if you are to make any profits out of real estate investments).
A real estate investor will generally base his investment decision on this real estate appraisal that he does by himself (or gets done through someone). So, can we then term real estate appraisal as a really real real estate appraisal?