Real estate appraisal in banking

Yes, without exception. A current real estate appraisal -- typically within the past 6 months -- is a required component of all banks to consider a real estate loan package, whether for a residence, or for business and investment property.

Increasingly, banks are requiring a new appraisal that they commission, rather than using another recent appraisal of the proposed property. However, if you have a recent appraisal, in order to save the expense of a second appraisal, you can ask your banker to request the appraiser to re-confirm the current value of the property and write a new cover letter addressed to your bank.

Also, it should be noted that each bank will have their list of acceptable appraisers, as well as a list of appraisers they won't use. It's okay to ask them about their "acceptable" list.