"[A]ppraisal is not an exact science and * * * the determination of an appraiser is to be upheld as long as the appraiser proceeds in good faith and without bias or fraud" ( Olympia York 2 Broadway Co. v. Produce Exch. Realty Trust, 93 A.D.2d 465, 468; Winter Mgt. Corp. v. Perlbinder, 179 A.D.2d 518). Appraisers have broad discretion as to their methods and as to their sources of information ( Rice v. Ritz Assocs., 88 A.D.2d 513, 514, affd 58 N.Y.2d 923).
Discussion In the absence of specific methods or procedures to be utilized, appraisers are given wide latitude in arriving at their determinations ( Olympia York 2 Broadway Co. v. Produce Exchange Realty Trust, 93 AD2d 465 [1st Dept 1983]). As the Court stated in Pearlbinder v. Jakubovitz, 239 AD2d 294 [1st Dept 1997], [A]ppraisal is not an exact science and . . . the determination of an appraiser is to be upheld as long as the appraiser proceeds in good faith and without bias or fraud. Olympia York 2 Broadway Co. v. Produce Exchange Realty Trust, 93 AD2d 456, 468; Winter Management Corp. v. Barton Mark Pearlbinder, 179 AD2d 518, 579). Appraisers have broad discretion as to their methods and so as to their sources of information ( Rice v. Ritz Associates, 88 AD2d 513, 514, aff'd 58 NY2d 293). ( Pearlbinder v. Jakubovitz, 239 AD2d 294 [1st Dept 1997]).
Even if it turns out that the appraisal is flawed, an executor is not "imprudent in relying on the opinion of a certified appraiser when . . . [the executor] had no basis to question its validity" ( Matter of Vale, 291 AD2d 353). The courts have recognized that "[a]ppraisal is not an exact science and . . . the determination of an appraiser is to be upheld as long as the appraiser proceeds in good faith and without bias or fraud ( Olympia York 2 Broadway Co. v. Produce Exch. Realty Trust, 93 AD2d 465, 468; Winter Mgt. Corp. v. Perlbinder, 179 AD2d 518). Appraisers have broad discretion as to their methods and as to their sources of information ( Rice v. Ritz Assocs., 88 AD2d 513, 514, affd 58 NY2d 923)" ( Perlbinder v. Jakubovitz, 239 AD2d 294).