5 Suggestions for Faster Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide more information or have steps added to their process. All to ensure their client has the best data possible. In order to stay current with the always changing requirements, Triangle Residential Valuations is constantly testing additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. At Triangle Residential Valuations we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed a few tips you can do to accelerate the process on any appraisals you order with Triangle Residential Valuations.

Are you ordering appraisals online?: When you order online, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations 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 re-key information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we got the order.
Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property?: Being just one number off on the street address can really add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are good data to pass long with the request. 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.
Are you telling us up front any elements of the property that might make it unique?: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. What takes time is analyzing how unique details 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 characteristics 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 sooner makes your report arrive quicker.
Let the occupants know what to expect.: One of the most tedious parts of the appraisal process is setting an appointment with the current homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an outsider looking in every square foot of their home, taking pictures, and making abundant notes. With the notion that it will make the house appraise for more money, many homeowners feel they should make the place spotless before the inspection. So they reschedule the appraisal inspection until it is cleaned.

Hearing from you -- a 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 make it more likely their sale will close, and can go a long way toward trimming the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has many pages of useful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your customers. Have them call us if they want to familiarize themselves with the staff and our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment as quickly as possible!
Easily keep tabs on the status of your report on our website.: No more phone and fax tag. Up-to-the-minute status updates are available online, anytime, 24/7. As each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information can be viewed instantly online. There's no faster or easier way to track your report's status.