Five Tips for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is continuously evolving. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to offer additional information or have steps added to their data gathering. They do this extra work to ensure their client gets the best information possible. To stay current with the always changing requirements, Amarillo Appraisal is constantly acquiring new tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for quickly. At Amarillo Appraisal we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed some things you can do to trim turn times every time you order an appraisal with Amarillo Appraisal.

Are you ordering appraisals online?: When you order online, you receive automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the order 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 retype information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property?: Being just one number off on the street address can really unnecessarily interrupt an appraisal assignment. And if you have a tax parcel number, plat map number, subdivision name or anything else that uniquely identifies the property, please pass it along. Even a list of recent area sales is welcome — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.
Be sure to tell us about the unique characteristics of this property.: Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how details unique to a property 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 built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we would find out on our own, knowing them sooner makes your report arrive without delay.
Do the occupants know what to expect?: Setting an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most tedious steps in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uncomfortable with an unknown person looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making copious notes. One common belief is that they should make the place spotless before the inspection, with the belief that will increase the appraised value. So they choose to not schedule the inspection until they have cleaned.

Coming from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- a short explanation about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't affect their home's value one little bit, and likely shorten the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has multiple pages of relevant information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your clients. Have them call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment as quickly as possible!
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 we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information is available to you online. It's never been easier to keep track of the status of your report.