One of the nation’s largest professional associations of real estate appraisers, the Appraisal Institute, spoke out recently about the way appraisers are received by buyers and sellers. The message: don’t blame the appraiser for a disappointing evaluation of your home’s value. Appraisers set prices, not for buyers or sellers, but for lenders, who make sure that transactions are fair. “Appraisers don’t set the… market; they reflect what’s happening [in it],” said Sara Stephens, president of the Institute. The use of an appraiser is important when assessing homes that are distressed or damaged, as they know how to compare those properties to others in the area.