Five Suggestions for Shorter Turn Times
Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to include additional information or have steps added to their data gathering. They do this extra work to ensure their client gets the best information available. To stay current with the constantly changing requirements, The Appraisal Firm is continuously testing new tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. At The Appraisal Firm we know that time is important to everybody, so here are some tips you can do to decrease turn times whenever you order an appraisal from The Appraisal Firm.
- Always order your appraisals online.
- With online ordering, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip single-handedly will save the most time! We don't have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we received the order.
- Make sure that the subject property information is accurate and complete.
- There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name is helpful information to include with the request. We even welcome lists of recent sales in the area — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.
If you have any questions about your property or an appraisal we're working on for you, you're always welcome to call us at
- Are you telling us up front any characteristics of the property that might make it distinct?
- It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. What takes time is analyzing how details unique to a property add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. At the time you order your report, be sure to let us know if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. These are things we will find out on our own anyway, and knowing them sooner makes your report arrive quicker.
- Let the homeowner know what to expect.
- One of the most inefficient steps of the appraisal process is setting an appointment with the homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be apprehensive with an outsider inspecting every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making copious notes. With the belief that it will increase the value, many homeowners think they need to make the place spotless before the inspection. So they choose to not schedule the inspection until they can get around to cleaning.
Coming directly from you -- a person they have been working with on their loan -- a little info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make it more likely their sale will close, and likely decrease the appraisal inspection time. Our website has numerous pages of helpful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your clients. Have them call us if they want to familiarize themselves with the staff and our services. And tell them it's to their advantage to set the appointment without delay!
- Use our website to keep track of your report's status.
- Why are you still playing phone and fax tag when our website offers up-to-the-minute status updates available online, anytime, 24/7? As each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information is available instantly to you online. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.
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