How to Create a BRAVE File for Your CRE Appraisal

Before You Start

Creating a BRAVE file means populating 99 structured fields — organized into 6 official categories (Job, Property, Income, Value, Appraiser) — with data from your commercial real estate appraisal report. BRAVE was created by Valcre as an open industry standard. The output is an XLSX file that a bank can validate and ingest automatically.

You do not need specialized software. You do not need programming skills. You need your completed appraisal report, a spreadsheet application, and the BRAVE field specification.

This guide walks through three approaches — manual, template-based, and automated — so you can choose the one that fits your practice.

Approach 1: Manual Completion

This is the most straightforward method and requires nothing beyond a spreadsheet application.

Step 1: Get the Template

Download the official BRAVE template from your bank client's vendor portal (Bank OZK provides one through their appraisal submission system) or create your own spreadsheet matching the BRAVE field specification. The BRAVE file uses a two-column layout: Field Name in Column A and Response in Column B, with each of the 99 fields on its own row. Each field name must use the exact BRAVE dot-notation format (e.g., Property.AddressStreet, Income.NetOperatingIncome).

Step 2: Complete the Identification Section

Start with the 3 Job fields: Job.ClientRef (your client reference number), Job.ReportDate, and Job.CurrencyType (typically USD). The client reference is the primary key — make sure it matches exactly what appears on your PDF report.

Step 3: Work Through Each Category

Move through the 6 official BRAVE categories (Job, Property, Income, Value, Appraiser) sequentially. For each field, pull the corresponding data point from your appraisal report. Key tips:

• Dates should be formatted as YYYY-MM-DD
• Currency values should be numeric with no dollar signs or commas (enter 1250000, not $1,250,000)
• Percentages should be decimal values (enter 0.065 for 6.5%, not 6.5%)
• Text fields like property type should use the BRAVE enumerated values (e.g., "Office", "Retail", "Industrial", "Multifamily", "Mixed-Use")

Step 4: Leave Inapplicable Fields Blank

If a field does not apply to your property — for example, tenancy fields for a vacant land appraisal — leave it empty. Do not enter zero, "N/A", or placeholder text. Blank fields are valid; incorrect data is not.

Step 5: Self-Validate

Before submitting, check these common error sources:

• Does the report ID match your PDF?
• Does the as-is market value in the BRAVE file match the value conclusion in your report?
• Do the NOI and cap rate fields produce a value consistent with your income approach (NOI / cap rate should approximate your income approach value)?
• Are all dates in YYYY-MM-DD format?

Manual completion typically takes 20 to 40 minutes per report, depending on property complexity. For a detailed breakdown of each field, see our 99 Fields of BRAVE guide.

Approach 2: Template Integration in Appraisal Software

If you use commercial appraisal software, check whether your vendor supports BRAVE export. Valcre Professional and Enterprise editions include built-in BRAVE export. Over 300 appraisal firms already deliver BRAVE files through Valcre. Other vendors (Narrative1, Argus, ValCom, or similar) may also be developing BRAVE integration — check with your vendor for availability.

With template integration, your workflow changes minimally:

1. Complete your appraisal report as usual
2. Use the BRAVE export function to generate the XLSX/CSV file
3. Review the exported file for completeness
4. Submit both the PDF and BRAVE file to the bank

This approach eliminates manual data re-entry since the software maps its internal data fields to the BRAVE schema. However, you should still review the output — automated mapping can miss fields that are stored differently in your software than BRAVE expects.

Approach 3: Automated Extraction with AppraisalAPI

The fastest and most accurate approach is automated extraction. Instead of re-entering data that already exists in your PDF report, you let an extraction engine read the PDF and produce the BRAVE file.

Here is how it works with AppraisalAPI:

1. Upload your completed PDF appraisal through the API or web interface
2. The system extracts all 99 BRAVE fields using AI-powered document analysis trained specifically on commercial appraisal reports
3. Review the extraction results — fields that could not be confidently extracted are flagged for manual review
4. Download the validated BRAVE file in XLSX or CSV format

Processing time is typically under 60 seconds per report. Extraction accuracy exceeds 95% for standard commercial appraisal formats, and the review interface makes it easy to verify and correct any flagged fields.

This approach has three key advantages:

• Speed: seconds instead of 20-40 minutes
• Accuracy: no transcription errors between your report and the BRAVE file
• Consistency: every BRAVE file follows the same structure and formatting rules

Validation Checklist

Regardless of which approach you use, run through this checklist before submitting:

• Key identification fields are populated (all fields are technically optional in the validator, but banks expect core fields to be present)
• Property address matches exactly between PDF and BRAVE file
• Value conclusions match between PDF and BRAVE file
• Income fields (PGI, EGI, NOI) are internally consistent
• Cap rate and NOI produce a value approximating the income approach conclusion
• Dates use YYYY-MM-DD format
• Currency values are numeric without formatting characters
• Inapplicable fields are blank, not zero

Getting Started Today

If you are submitting appraisals to Bank OZK or preparing for other banks' upcoming BRAVE requirements, the best time to establish your workflow is now. Start with a recent completed appraisal and practice producing a BRAVE file using whichever approach fits your practice.

For more context on the standard itself, read What Is BRAVE? For a comparison of manual versus automated extraction approaches, see our analysis of manual vs automated data extraction. If you use dedicated appraisal software, our guides for Valcre and ARGUS cover the BRAVE export process step by step, or you can use the BRAVE Excel template for a standalone workflow.