Five Tips for Shorter Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply extra information or have steps added to their data gathering. All to ensure the end user receives the best information available. To keep up with the continuously changing requirements, Purdy Appraisal is always testing additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Purdy Appraisal we know that time is important to everybody, so here are some items you can do to lessen turn times on any appraisals you order from Purdy Appraisal.

Always order your appraisals on the Internet.: When you order online, you automatically receive e-mail confirmations that the request was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. Ordering online is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! We don't have to retype information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we received the request.
Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property?: 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 your request. Even a list of recent area sales is welcome — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.
Be sure to let us know about the unique characteristics 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 contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when ordering your report if there are unique details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition put on, 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 early on is likely to make your report arrive sooner.
Did you make the homeowner of the home aware of what to expect?: Setting an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient steps in the appraisal process. Many current homeowners are justifiably uneasy with the notion an unknown persons wants to come in their home, look around, and take lots of notes. Not uncommonly they think they should make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, under the impression that will increase the appraised value. So they put off the appointment until they can get around to cleaning.

Hearing from you -- someone they have been working with on their loan -- a little bit about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make it more likely their sale will close, and can go a long way toward trimming the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has many pages of useful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your customers. Tell them to call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!
Use our website to follow 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. There's no easier or faster way to track your report's status.