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I am a Certified Residential appraiser and I do not take commercial assignments. But a great many people searching for a commercial appraiser do not actually need one — so here is where the line falls, and how to find the right person if it really is commercial.
Published October 2026
This page exists because a lot of people land on my site searching for a commercial appraiser in Fort Worth, and I am not one. Rather than let you work that out three clicks later, here is the straight answer and a way to get what you actually need.
The distinction is not about income, tenants or whether the property is an investment. It is about the number of dwelling units and, for land, the highest and best use.
| Property | Which appraiser | Within my scope? |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family house, owner-occupied or rented | Residential | Yes |
| Condominium or townhouse | Residential | Yes |
| Duplex, triplex, fourplex | Residential | Yes — even as a pure investment |
| Vacant lot whose best use is a house | Residential | Yes |
| Five units or more | Commercial | No |
| Retail, office, warehouse, industrial | Commercial | No |
| Mixed-use with five or more dwelling units | Commercial | No |
| Land whose best use is commercial or subdivision | Commercial | No |
| Subdivision development feasibility | Commercial | No |
The fourplex line is the one that catches people. If you own a four-unit building, collect rent on all four and file a Schedule E, it is still a residential appraisal. Nothing about the ownership or the income changes the classification. I appraise those, and the income the units produce is part of the analysis.
Equally, a Texas Certified Residential credential carries no value ceiling. A $3,000,000 house on twelve acres is residential. People sometimes assume a high value means a commercial appraiser; it does not.
You need someone holding a Certified General credential — the one that covers all property types without limitation. Here is how to find and check one, free, in about two minutes.
| Step | Where | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Find one | TALCB License Holder Search | Search Texas appraisers and filter to Certified General. It also covers appraisal management companies. |
| Check the credential | ASC National Registry | A complete credential history, and whether the person is authorised for federally related transactions. Leave the state field blank to see every state they hold. |
| Check for discipline | TALCB disciplinary actions | Any action taken against that licence in Texas. |
One caution on the national registry: it publishes active discipline that limits an appraiser’s ability to appraise. Completed actions and other discipline have to be requested from the state board. So if someone has moved between states, check the previous state too.
The wider version of this — what questions to ask before you hire anybody, and why the signature on the certification is the thing that matters — is in how to check who is actually appraising your house.
Call or send the address and I will tell you within the conversation which kind of appraiser you need. If it is commercial, I will say so and point you in a useful direction. There is no charge for that and no obligation attached to it.
I would rather spend five minutes telling you I am the wrong person than take a deposit and work it out later. That is the same reason the property types page says plainly what I do not do: a credential with a boundary is only worth anything if the boundary is stated.
A Texas Certified Residential credential covers one-to-four unit residential property of any value, and vacant or unimproved land whose highest and best use is one-to-four family residential. Taking an assignment outside that is a competency problem and a licensing problem, not a judgement call. Plenty of firms list “commercial” alongside everything else on a services page without the credential to support it, and that is worth checking before you hire anyone — including me.
Then it is my work, and the things that make a property complicated are the ones I spend most of my time on — acreage, water frontage, outbuildings, guest quarters, two-to-four unit income property, and houses the comparable sales do not describe well. How rare each of those actually is, measured across 84,380 closed sales, is on the property types page.
Written fee and a firm delivery date before any work starts, usually within one business hour, and the fee is never contingent on the value reported.
No. I hold a Texas Certified Residential credential, which covers one-to-four unit residential property and residential land, and does not cover commercial property, apartment buildings of five units or more, or subdivision development analysis. If that is what you need I will tell you on the phone and point you toward a Certified General appraiser rather than taking the assignment.
No. One to four dwelling units is residential regardless of how the property is used or who occupies it. A fourplex held purely as an investment, with all four units rented, is still a residential appraisal and is within my scope — the income those units produce forms part of the analysis alongside the sales comparison. Five units or more is where it becomes commercial.
A Certified Residential appraiser may appraise one-to-four unit residential property of any transaction value, plus vacant or unimproved land whose highest and best use is one-to-four family residential. A Certified General appraiser may appraise all types of real property without limitation, including commercial. The distinction is property type rather than value — there is no price ceiling on a Certified Residential credential.
Use the TALCB License Holder Search at talcb.texas.gov and filter to Certified General, then verify the credential through the Appraisal Subcommittee National Registry at asc.gov, which shows a complete credential history and whether the appraiser is authorised for federally related transactions. TALCB also publishes a disciplinary actions search. All three are free and public.
No. A Texas Certified Residential credential has no value ceiling, so a multi-million dollar house on acreage is a residential assignment. The credential is defined by property type, not by price. I have appraised more than $4 billion of residential property including valuations above $10,000,000.
Yes, and there is no charge for it. Send the address or describe the property and I will tell you in the conversation whether it is residential or commercial, and point you somewhere useful if it is not my work.
This page is general information about appraiser credentials and scope. It is not legal advice, it is not an opinion of value, and nothing here is an appraisal.
Send the address and I will tell you whether it is residential or commercial, at no charge and with nothing attached. If it is residential, you will have a written fee and a delivery date, usually within one business hour.
Would you rather not type it out? Call or text (817) 903-4509.