1.2.4. Type of Opinion. In all assignments for federal acquisitions under these Standards, the type of opinion to be developed is market value. It is imperative that the appraiser utilize the correct definition of market value. In all federal acquisitions except leasehold acquisitions, appraisers must use the following federal definition of market value:11 

Definition of Market Value
Market value is the amount in cash, or on terms reasonably equivalent to cash, for which in all probability the property would have sold on the effective date of value, after a reasonable exposure time on the open competitive market, from a willing and reasonably knowledgeable seller to a willing and reasonably knowledgeable buyer, with neither acting under any compulsion to buy or sell, giving due consideration to all available economic uses of the property.

Appraisers should not link opinions of value under these Standards to a specific opinion of exposure time, unlike appraisal assignments for other purposes under USPAP Standards Rule 1-2(c). This requires a jurisdictional exception to USPAP because, as discussed in Section 4.2.1.2, the federal definition of market value already presumes that the property was exposed on the open market for a reasonable length of time, given the character of the property and its market. 

Similarly, estimates of marketing time are not appropriate for just compensation purposes, and must not be included in appraisal reports prepared under these Standards.12 While estimates of marketing time may be appropriate in other contexts and are often required by relocation companies, mortgage lenders, and other users, “provid[ing] a reasonable marketing time opinion exceeds the normal information required for the conduct of the appraisal process”13 and is beyond the scope of the appraisal assignment under these Standards.