I am going to have to strongly disagree with this statement. Real estate appraiser is there to justify value and they look backward towards sales comparables to do it. In a downward trending market, they are going to be high in their value and in a rising market, they are going to be low. Their data can be off by as much as 90 days by standard appraisal practices.

Good realtors stay on top of the market by tracking current sales which are going into escrow and should have the most current data.

And of course, you will run into lots of bad realtors and also bad appraisers because it's too easy to get into both professions without much training. But I would not necessary go to an appraiser to get a true value because that's not the nature of their business.

Also when valuating real estate, I think if they come within 5%, they are within the margin of error and most people just do not understand that concept.