Five Hints for Shorter Turn Times

The appraisal profession is evolving continuously. On a regular basis, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply extra information or have steps added to their data gathering. They do this extra work to ensure their client has the best data available. In order to keep up with the continuously changing requirements, Good Appraisal Services, Inc. is constantly researching new tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Good Appraisal Services, Inc. we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed some things you can do to lower turn times on any appraisals ordered with Good Appraisal Services, Inc..

Are you ordering appraisals online?: By ordering online, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations that the assignment 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 manually enter information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether the order was received.
Make sure that the subject property information is accurate and complete.: There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to unnecessarily slow down 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 sales from the area is welcome — though be advised that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.
Are you letting us know up front any details of the property that might make it unique?: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing details contribute 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 recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. While these are things that we'd find out on our own, knowing them as early as possible will likely make your report arrive quicker.
Do the occupants know what to expect?: One of the most time consuming steps of the appraisal process is setting an inspection date with the occupants of the home. We understand that a homeowner may be uneasy with an unknown person inspecting every corner of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. With the notion that it will increase the appraised value, many homeowners think they ought to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection. And will put off the inspection until they can get around to cleaning.

Coming from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- some 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 can shorten the appraisal inspection time. Please feel free to point them to our website, where we have several pages of useful information for homeowners as well as others regarding the appraisal process. Have them call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it's to their advantage to set the appointment promptly!
Our website is a great resource for tracking your report's status.: No more phone and fax tag. Up-to-the-minute status updates are 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 faster to track your report's status.