If you’ve ever been told to take probiotics for digestion, you know the basic pitch: they keep things balanced, functioning, and healthy. Pop a capsule or eat a little yogurt, and your gut microbiome gets a boost of good bacteria to help everything run more smoothly.
My favorite way to keep my gut biome in check is with Kombucha. Some people love Kombucha; others think it tastes like fruity armpit sweat. Yum! LOL!
I’ve been drinking it for years, but it is not cheap. I used to pay around $3.50 to $4.00 per bottle. So, I started making it. Before we go on, if you want to try making your own, here’s a guy I learned a lot from…
Now, back to the main topic…
Stick with me here… because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that probiotics have much in common with real estate appraisals. Yep, really! Or, I’ve been drinking too much of it, and I am delusional. You be the judge.
Both play behind-the-scenes roles. Both help bring balance. And both, in their own way, keep a much bigger system from going off the rails.
Restoring Balance in the System
Your gut can get out of whack fast—stress, antibiotics, bad food, you name it. That’s when probiotics step in, bringing order back to the chaos.
Appraisals do something similar in the housing market. In a hot Cleveland neighborhood where prices are flying high and buyers are drinking up anything homes that go up for sale in days, it’s easy to lose sight of actual value.
An appraisal brings the conversation back to data and reality. Appraisers are not trying to kill the party—our job is to develop a supportable opinion of the subject’s market value. Appraisals can help buyers avoid paying more than market value for a property.
Digesting the Right Stuff
Probiotics help your body break down and absorb nutrients more efficiently. They know what to keep and what to flush.
Appraisals work the same way. Not every renovation or feature adds value, and it’s the appraiser’s job to sort through the “data diet” and determine what matters to buyers. The appraiser must use data to determine what buyers pay for amenities like finished basements, pools, bedrooms, and other value components.
What about the fifth garage space in an area where most competing homes only have two? Is there any value to some of those additional spaces? Maybe. Maybe not.
Preventing Market Inflammation
When the gut is out of balance, inflammation, bloating, discomfort, and other symptoms can result. In the real estate world, inflated values lead to their own pain: deals falling apart, appraisals that are lower than contract prices when the data don’t support the price, and confusion for everyone involved.
Appraisals help reduce market “inflamation”, by grounding decisions in actual market activity, not wishful thinking or emotional pricing. Think of them as a little dose of anti-inflammatory logic.
Let me take a minute to demonstrate this. If someone asked you to define market value, what would you say? Many have told me it is whatever the buyers are willing to pay for a property. With all due respect, this is false and an oversimplification of an appraisal and its development.
Did you know that appraisers must base their opinions of a property’s market value on specific definitions and cite the definition and its source in the appraisal? Why is that important?
If the definition were truly whatever someone was willing to pay for a property, then what the market data reflected would not matter. But I’ve never read a definition of market value that simply states this. If you have a copy of an appraisal, please read the definition of market value in the report. Part of the definition states, “This definition is the consummation of a sale as of a specified date and the passing of title from seller to buyer,” under some specific conditions.
In other words, appraisers must use comparable closed sales as a basis for their opinion of value. We do adjust for market price changes. So, if home prices are increasing, it is certainly possible that the value of a property under contract is higher than that of comparable sales.
However, suppose the adjusted prices do not support the contract price after adjusting for market changes and other differences in value components. In that case, the appraiser’s opinion of value will be less than the contract price.
Well, I may have lost you at this point, or you may be bored out of your mind reading about definitions of market value, so let’s move on.
Quiet Work, Big Impact
Probiotics don’t shout about what they’re doing—but your body notices when they’re missing. The same goes for appraisals. Most people don’t think about the appraiser much during a transaction, but take appraisals out of the picture with an appraisal waiver, and the entire process loses a vital check-and-balance.
Appraisers and their appraisals are not flashy, but we help keep the housing ecosystem running smoothly and fairly. Whether some like it or not.
So What’s the Takeaway?
Balance matters whether you’re dealing with your gut health or your next real estate deal. Good information matters. And having the right “invisible helpers” in the background—be it a quality probiotic or a thorough appraisal—can make all the difference.
Not everyone likes the taste of kombucha, and not everyone likes appraisers. I get it! However, when appraisals are appropriately developed and well supported, they are good for the housing market, despite some people’s distaste for them.
Because when everything’s working the way it should, the housing market is healthier!
CUYAHOGA COUNTY SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING TRENDS
Here are some fresh stats for single-family homes in Cuyahoga County. Here are the key points from the data below:
- Median sales prices in April 2025 increased by approximately 10% year over year and are still trending higher.
- There are just under two months of single-family inventory on the market.
- Median list prices in April of 2025 increased by approximately 9% year over year.
- On average, selling a home in April 2025 took 15 days, six days faster than in April 2024.
- On average, homes sell at 100% of their listing price.
- There were 1,902 total active listings in April, approximately 26% more than in April of 2024! That’s the highest number of active listings since 2020!
- Pending sales continue to fall! In April, there were 965 pending sales, 15% fewer than in April 2025 and still trending down.
SOME THINGS TO MAKE YOU SMILE
I don’t know about you, but I am happy that the warmer days await us. And spring break is in full force. Here are some funny spring break fails. By the way, the way the one guy golfs in this video is exactly what I look like when I golf. Yep! For real!
I’m a sucker for funny animal clips. If you’ve read my posts, you probably know this. Here’s one I recently enjoyed…
If you are a music lover, check out Fulton Lee. I love this guy’s music!
LOCAL STUFF
I enjoyed some articles about the Greater Cleveland area. I like sharing these things with you and hope you enjoy them too. Just click on the article to be sent to that article.
10 Record-Breaking Rides at Cedar Point – Cleveland Magazine
Visit 7 Ohio Nature Preserves – Cleveland Magazine
See the Biggest Week in American Birding at Magee Marsh – Ohio magazine
MORE BLOGS I RECOMMEND
If you enjoyed my blog, you might also enjoy some of my friends’ and colleagues’ blogs! Click their links below to check them out!
APPRAISAL TODAY by Ann O’Rourke
Housing Notes by Jonathan Miller
Sacramento Appraisal Blog by Ryan Lundquist
Real Value Blog and Podcast by Blaine Feyen
The Analogue Blog by George Dell
The Appraiser Coach Blog by Dustin Harris
Birmingham Appraisal Blog by Tom Horn
Thanks for being here! I hope you found something in this post that benefited you!
Have a great week!
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If you want to order a residential real property appraisal in Northeast Ohio, click here. I’d love to help you solve your value problem! I’ve been appraising in the following counties since 1998: Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Geauga, Portage, Medina, Lorain, and Stark County.
* Some parts of this post were created using AI tools, with final edits, and opinions by me.