I can’t speak for other Real Estate Brokers, but in my opinion there is not a lot of benefit in spending the money to get an appraisal before listing your property for sale. The results of an appraisal is not a material fact (it is just an opionion) and therefore does not need to be disclosed to a buyer in case you’re not happy with the number. But even if the appraisal comes in on the high side and you’d like to use that as a marketing tool, in all likelihood the buyer won’t be influenced by it very much and their lender is still going to require their own appraisal anyway.