Five Suggestions for Shorter Turn Times

The appraisal profession is continuously evolving. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply additional information or have steps added to their appraisal process. They do this extra work to guarantee the end user gets the best data possible. To stay current with the continuously changing requirements, All City Appraisal is constantly seeking additional tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since All City Appraisal knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed a couple of items you can do to lessen turn times when you order an appraisal from All City Appraisal.

Are you ordering appraisals online?

With online ordering, you receive automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the request was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! No longer do we have to retype information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether the order was received.

Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property?

Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name is helpful information to pass long with your request. Even a list of recent area sales is welcome — though be advised that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

If you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you, you're always free to call us at

Be sure to tell us about the unique features of this property.

It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing features add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When ordering your report, let us know if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we'll find out on our own, knowing them early on makes your report arrive quicker.

Did you make the homeowner of the home aware of what to expect?

One of the most inefficient tasks of the appraisal process is setting an appointment with the current homeowner. We understand that a homeowner may be uneasy with a stranger looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making lots of notes. Many commonly think they should make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, with the notion that will increase the appraised value. And will choose to not schedule the appointment until the house is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- the person they've been working with on their loan -- a little knowledge 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 shorten the appraisal inspection time. I encourage you to point your customers to this website, where we have many pages of relevant information for homeowners and others describing the appraisal process. They can even call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment without delay!

Use our website to track 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 we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information can be viewed instantly online. It's never been easier to track your report's status.