Is a broker "hired" appraisal a good indicator of worth of the apartment?

if you buy the apt., the bank will order their own apprasal and what their appraiser says is the only thing that matters.

Has anyone ever hired their own appraiser to evaluate an apartment? Any recommendations?

it depends on what you are looking for. if you want a real appraisal value, you can hire one of the companies in the city (I use MMJ for Brooklyn, but they have separate appraisers for each borough). if you want an appraisal to be a crapshoot, then hire someone from Suffolk or Rockland County. most of the time those guys come in at about 30-40% below value because they don't know what a comp is.

Did anyone hired Jonathan Miller?

i sold my apartment for 25% more than an appraisal 4 months earlier in nov. 2007... they are meaningless...

i sold my apartment for 25% more than an appraisal 4 months earlier in nov. 2007... they are meaningless...

So? It's an estimate. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance........
Under that theory, jewelry and art should always sell at auction at appraisal too. Does not work that way...

imshop124 - post the listing here, people will come back with really helpful guesstimates, comps, etc. You can deduct the highest/lowest and hopefully there will be some concenus around the middle. IMHO - no need to pay for that because as everyone above points out anyway, even the professionals don't always get it right.