What is the difference between a home inspector and an appraiser?

Both visit the property and both write a report. The questions they answer are different:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says home inspectors examine houses, condos, and townhomes to report on their structure and overall condition. They can note a building code violation, but they have no power to enforce the code.

Appraisers, in the BLS description, check public records, inspect the property and note its features, and take photos. Then they compare it with similar properties and write a report on its value.

HUD gives FHA borrowers a one-page notice, form HUD-92564-CN, "For Your Protection: Get a Home Inspection". One of its headings reads "Appraisals are NOT Home Inspections!" The form, dated February 9, 2023, says:

• FHA does not perform home inspections.
• An inspection happens only if the buyer arranges one.
• The appraisal estimates the home's value for the lender and does not replace an inspection.
• FHA does not guarantee the value or the condition of the home.
• After closing, FHA cannot lend money for repairs or buy the home back.

The form also tells buyers to ask an inspector for a standard of practice or a sample report. For what those standards cover, see home inspection standards of practice.

Russ Motyko puts the gap this way. An appraisal form carries a condition rating, but it is a summary of the whole house. A rating of average says nothing about a failing water heater or standing water in the crawlspace.

On an FHA loan, HUD's form says it directly: an appraisal is required to estimate the home's value for the lender. The inspection is the buyer's call. The same form notes that a buyer who asks for one early can make the purchase contract contingent on its results.

The two reports also go to different readers. The appraisal answers a question the lender asked. The inspection report answers questions the client asked, about the roof, the wiring, the plumbing, and the rest of the house.

Yes. Nothing found for this page bars one person from holding both credentials, and Rhode Island writes a path for it: a state certified appraiser can get the home inspector license by meeting the character, high school, and exam rules.

One license does not stand in for the other, though. Pennsylvania bars a home inspector from appraisal work without an appraiser license. Maryland, Mississippi, and South Dakota exempt a licensed appraiser from the home inspector law only while working within the appraisal license.

Doing both on the same house runs into more rules:

• California bars a home inspector from giving an opinion of value. Its law also says a licensed appraiser doing an appraisal shall not act as a home inspector performing a home inspection.
• Pennsylvania and Iowa make the inspection report state that it is not an appraisal and may not be used as one.
• USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, has required since 2010 that an appraiser disclose services on the same property in the prior three years. The certification covers services "as an appraiser or in any other capacity," according to the Appraisal Institute.

Read plainly, that wording reaches a home inspection the appraiser did on the house, but this page did not read the current USPAP edition. No state rule in this site's files bars an inspector from later appraising a house they inspected, outside California's rule above. Ask the state appraiser board before doing both on one property.

For the same question with a real estate license, see can a real estate agent be a home inspector.

Federal law requires a state license or certification to appraise for federally related loans, such as loans from federally insured banks. The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB), part of The Appraisal Foundation, sets the minimum education, experience, and exam for each credential. States must adopt rules no less strict. These are the residential levels in the criteria that took effect January 1, 2026:

A Licensed Residential appraiser with five years and no discipline can skip the college rule for Certified Residential. Experience can also come from an AQB-approved PAREA program, which uses simulated training in place of a supervisor. Renewal takes 28 class hours per two-year cycle, including a course on valuation bias and fair housing law.

Home inspector rules come from each state. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have no license at all, Colorado and Michigan among them. Where there is one, the steps differ widely. Three examples:

• Washington: a 120-hour course, 40 hours of field training with 5 inspections, and a two-part exam, the National Home Inspector Examination (NHIE) plus a state section.
• Oregon: the NHIE, 20 points from classes, ride-alongs, or experience, and a tie to a licensed business.
• Texas: three tiers, with 134 to 194 hours of education for the top one, the NHIE, and a Texas exam.

For the rest, see how to become a home inspector and how long it takes.

BLS groups appraisers with property tax assessors, and home inspectors with code inspectors. Both groups lean on government jobs, and the pay figures leave out the self-employed. Read them as the wage side of each field.

For more on what home inspectors earn, see how much home inspectors make and whether six figures is possible.