What does an appraisal report contain?
No two appraisal reports are the same. The contents of a report can vary based on the client/intended user’s needs. For mortgage lending, the various financial institutions out there can have quite the lengthy list of requirements as they deal with billions of dollars per year in appraised values. Talk about an exercise in risk management! For the typical homeowner/Realtor, their requirements may not be as extensive, and the appraisal report will be shorter, focusing more on what is relevant to their specific needs. However, all appraisal reports have a certain minimum set of development and reporting standards, established by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).  Even a simple verbal appraisal over the phone still requires appraisers to comply with and perform everything listed in this 368 page document (2020-2021 Ed.)
Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) (appraisalfoundation.org)
Standards Rule 2 covers the minimum reporting requirements for the content of real property appraisals. First and foremost, each written or oral real property appraisal report must:
clearly and accurately set forth the appraisal in a manner that will not be misleading;
contain sufficient information to enable the Intended user(s) of the appraisal to understand the report properly; and
clearly and accurately disclose all assumptions, extraordinary assumptions, hypothetical conditions, and limiting conditions used in the assignment.
When providing a written real property appraisal report, each report must be prepared under one of the following options, and prominently state which option is used: Appraisal Report or Restricted Appraisal Report. The report content and level of information varies between these two reporting options. Your appraiser will know, based on your intended use/user requirements, which option is best suited for your situation.