Drive by appraisals are just that, and usually they are not performed by a licensed, professional appraiser.They are not accurate. A professional appraisal at a minimum involves using recent comparative sales and making measurements of the subject property to arrive at a current value. Appraisals are based on current market conditions and are applicable to the period of time they refer to. Values are always changing and appraisals,reflect that, be it positive or negative.

Heather the truth is drive by appraisals are not worth the paper they written on. An appraiser can not truely add or subtract value without seeing the interior, the condition and upgrades. It was basically to pacify the lender for a refi. Unfortanatly square footage below grade is not appraised at a value as much as square footage above ground. Some lenders and appraisers will not use square footage below grade in the square footage but list it seperately as say 2500 GLAL (gross living space above grade) 1300 SFBG, Total SF 3800SF. As far as market values, while some areas are fairing better than others, theappraiser will use the last 3 sales in yoru area of similar homes, if they sold for less it does affect your value. Hope this helps in explaining it even though i know it is not the answer you want to hear.