If I could give negative stars, I would. These people are a complete and total joke. They don't care about customer service at all. I've had the displeasure of being saddled with them twice. Both times the appraisers were rude and ignorant. They did not even try to be accommodating. And both times they literally ran out of my house like they were on fire. The only reason I keep getting saddled with them is because they low-ball all the other appraisal companies. If at all possible, stay way from these crooks!!! read more

I reached out to Academy Appraisal, Inc to do a private appraisal for my home since my wife and I going thru a divorce. The owner Steve was very helpful and explained the whole process to me. Then straight from speaking to him I was passed onto the scheduler who wasted no time giving me a very fast appointment. The appraiser that came out was just as thorough and very knowledgeable about the area and his line of work. Any questions I had he did not hesitate to answer them. I would definitely use them again (hopefully I won't have to) and would refer them to anybody who needs an appraisal done on their home or business. read more

The bank we were working with hired academy appraisal. When we got the appraisal we were let down by the price we received, but that's not why they are getting a bad review. The appraisal had the wrong specs for our house. From square footage being off to room count and many other things. They walked thru the whole house and took pictures so obviously you could count rooms and just see from pictures that the Count was off. When we brought this up, the response was that we would have to have pay for a "more in-depth appraisal". And that "we would not be happy with a new appraisal because it would be the same or worse". We paid for one and they didn't use the correct specs so why would be have to lay for them to redo it. We brought the mistakes to attention and get a response of you don't like it well here's something worse. Our home came in 100k less than the average home in our township. Because of using wrong specs and comps not in our area. Avoid this company and if your bank is using them urge them o change or look for different lenders. read more

Rob appraised my duplex in West Philadelphia. He was very professional and had great communication (called 30 minutes before arriving as I had requested). He took lots of photos, asked questions and gave a very fair appraisal. Not to mention, it was also a really quick turnaround. He's the only employee I've had interaction with, but I would definitely recommend him to do the job! read more

I wanted to refinance my house and take advantage of the lower interest rates. I was assigned Academy Appraisal INC. to appraise my home. I just received my appraisal from this company today and could not believe the decision. To start, they listed the incorrect number of bedrooms in my house, page 2 of the appraisal (great start) and then it got worse. They used comparisons from other homes that were sold over 9 months ago and were located a mile away from my house in a totally different zip code. I live in the city and there are home sales almost daily to choose from. 2 of the 3 houses this company selected for comparison only had half of the livable sq/ft space as my house, the lot was 1/3 smaller, and only had half of the bedrooms that my home has. How are they even comparable to my house and what is this comparison based on? Why not select houses that are twice as big as my house to compare mine too? I guess they could not find any houses sold any closer to me or similar in size in the last 9 months? I guess they were too busy or didn't care to look very hard for better houses to compare to mine. I went online and in 2 minutes found a house right on my street that could have been used. The house sold 2 months ago, only 4 doors away from me, very similar in size / lot/# of rooms, but it was not used. It is listed online on every realtor site, no idea why it was not used. Another house that is 3 doors away from me, on the other side of my house is also listed on the same online sites, however this one was used. Because it has not sold yet, it can only be used as example estimate. Both of these houses are on my street, very similar to my house and lot size. Now for the interesting part.... The one that sold, sold for $150,000 more then the appraisal I received from this company...yes, it sold for $150,000 dollars more then the apprasial value they gave me for my house, again very similar house in every way. The one that is listed for sale is listed at $100,000 more then the appraisal I received. What a joke, both are very similar houses to mine, on the same street just a few doors away, and their selling for $150,000 more then this company's appraisal? You ask, how is that possible, well here is what I found... They listed my house with a value of $90,00 per sq/ft for livable space, when the 2 houses above are listed as $169 and $177 per sq/ft. Almost double per sq/ft and no significant difference at all from my house. Also, every house they used for their comparisons were listed for $197 and $200 per sq/ft. Where did they come up with the $90.00 sq/ft number for me, do they even know what they are doing? My home is a granite stone single home with 6 bedrooms 4 baths (with no issues at all in home) in a very desirable area of the city. This company is appeasing my home for $90.00 per sq/ft. Town homes in this area are $120-$140 per sq/ft in this area. Out of respect I will stop here... I tried to research this company only to find out they are not part of the BBB, who knows why. I wanted to see if others had similar issues or filed a complaint for their work. Sad to say, but I would definitely seek another company if possible. read more