What is the primary purpose of a property appraisal?

The primary purpose of a property appraisal is to determine the market value of a property. This process involves a professional appraiser evaluating various factors, including the property's location, size, condition, and recent sales of comparable properties in the area. The resulting market value is essential for various real estate transactions, such as buying, selling, or refinancing a property, as it provides a fair and objective assessment of what the property is worth in the current market.

While other options may have their own significance, they do not capture the fundamental goal of an appraisal. Assessing the property’s environmental impact is important but typically falls under different types of evaluations rather than appraisals. Providing a history of the property’s ownership is more related to title searches and property records than to its value assessment. Calculating potential rental income is specific to investment analysis and not the primary concern of an appraisal, which focuses on establishing a current market value based on sales data and property characteristics.