A Few Steps to Shorter Turn Times
The appraisal profession is always evolving. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to present additional information or have steps added to their research. All of this is to ensure the end user receives the best data available. In order to keep up with the continuously changing requirements, Alliance Appraisal Services is constantly testing new tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for more effectively. At Alliance Appraisal Services we know that time is important to everybody, so below are some items you can do to speed up the process on any appraisals you order from Alliance Appraisal Services.
- Always order your appraisals online.
- By ordering online, you get automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip single-handedly will save the most time! We don't have to re-key information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we got the order.
- Verify that the subject property data 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 are helpful data to pass long with your 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.
Feel free to call us at if you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you.
- Are you telling us up front any elements of the property that might make it unique?
- 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. At the time you order your report, be sure to let us know if there are unique details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's susceptible to flooding. These are things we'll find out on our own anyway, and knowing them early on is likely to make your report arrive faster.
- Be sure the homeowner knows the the plan.
- One of the most inefficient steps of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the current homeowner. Many homeowners are justifiably apprehensive with the fact an outsider wants to come in their house, look around, and take numerous notes. Having the thought that it will increase the appraised value, some homeowners feel they ought to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection. So they delay the inspection until it is cleaned.
Coming 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 likely shorten the appraisal inspection time. Our website has multiple pages of helpful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your customers. Tell them to 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 soon as possible!
- Use our website to track your report's status.
- Phone and fax tag are a thing of the past with 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. There's no faster or easier way to keep track of your report's status.
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