Some Hints for Quicker Turn Times
Appraising is a constantly changing profession. On a regular basis, 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, L & J Appraisal Co., LLC is constantly researching new tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for in less time. Since L & J Appraisal Co., LLC knows that time is important to everyone, here are a few tips you can do to trim turn times on any appraisals ordered with L & J Appraisal Co., LLC.
- Always order your appraisals online.
- With online ordering, you get automatic e-mail acknowledgements 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 manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we received the request.
- Are you providing complete and accurate data about the subject property?
- Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really 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. We even welcome lists of recent sales from the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may 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.
- Let us know up front of the property's unique details.
- Cookie-cutter homes are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing elements 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. While these are things that we would find out on our own, knowing them sooner makes your report arrive more quickly.
- Be sure the homeowner knows the the plan.
- Confirming an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most time consuming tasks in the appraisal process. Some current homeowners are clearly uncomfortable with the fact a stranger wants to come in their home, look around, and take lots of notes. A common belief is that they have to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, thinking that will increase the value. So they choose to not schedule the appointment until it is cleaned.
Hearing from you -- the person 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 change their home's value one little bit, and likely decrease the time it takes to inspect a home. Please feel free to point your clients to our website, where we have lots of pages of useful information for homeowners and others about the appraisal process. Tell them to call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it's to their advantage to set the appointment soon!
- Are you using our website as a resource 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 each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information can be viewed instantly online. It's never been easier to track your report's status.
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