5 Tips for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to offer more information or have steps added to their process. They do this extra work to ensure their client gets the most useful analysis possible. To keep up with the always changing requirements, Appraisals Plus LLC is constantly acquiring additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for in less time. At Appraisals Plus LLC we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed some tips you can do to accelerate the process on any appraisals ordered with Appraisals Plus LLC:

Are you ordering appraisals online? When you order online, you receive automatic e-mail notifications that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip alone will save the most time! No longer do we have to re-key information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether the order was received.
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. 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 in the area 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.


	You're always welcome to contact us if you have any questions about your property or an appraisal we're working on for you.

Let us know up front of the property's unique characteristics. Cookie-cutter homes are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing elements add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When you order your report, let us know if there are unique details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we would find out on our own, knowing them as soon as possible makes your report arrive quicker.
Be sure the homeowner knows the plan. One of the most time consuming parts of the appraisal process is confirming an inspection date with the current homeowner. Some current homeowners are clearly uneasy with the thought that an outsider wants to come in their house, look around, and take numerous notes. With the idea that it will make the house appraise for more money, a few homeowners think they have to make the place spotless before the inspection and will put off the inspection until they have cleaned.

Hearing from you -- a trusted party with whom they are already working -- a little info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make a significant difference in their home's value, will help move the process along for everyone. Our website has several pages of useful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your customers. Encourage them to call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment as quickly as possible!
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 faster way to track your report's status.