Five Tips for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is evolving constantly. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide more information or have steps added to their research. All to guarantee their client is presented with the best information to be had. To keep up with the constantly changing requirements, All City Appraisal is always researching new tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since All City Appraisal knows that time is important to everyone, here are some items you can do to speed up the process on any appraisals you order from All City Appraisal.

Are you ordering appraisals online?

By ordering online, you get automatic e-mail notifications that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. Ordering online is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we got the request.

Complete and accurate subject property information is essential.

There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to unnecessarily slow down an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are helpful data to pass long with the 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, don't hesitate to contact us

Be sure to let us know about the property's distinct characteristics.

Cookie-cutter homes are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how unique details add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when you order your report 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 prone to flooding. While these are things that we will find out on our own, knowing them early on makes your report arrive earlier.

Let the occupants know what to expect.

One of the most tedious tasks of the appraisal process is setting an inspection date with the homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an outsider looking in every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. Many commonly think they ought to make the place spotless before the inspection, thinking that will make the house appraise for more money. So they choose to not schedule the inspection until it is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- a little information 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. Please feel free to point your clients to our website, where we have multiple pages of useful information for homeowners and others about the appraisal process. Tell them to call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment as quickly as possible!

Why not our website as a resource to keep track of the status of your report?

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. There's no faster way to keep track of your report's status.