5 Tips for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. On a regular basis, it seems, appraisers are asked to include more information or have steps added to their research. They do this extra work to ensure their client gets the most useful data. In order to keep up with the constantly changing requirements, Cleveland Appraisal Services & Home Inspections is continuously seeking additional tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for more effectively. Since Cleveland Appraisal Services & Home Inspections knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed a couple of items you can do to lower turn times whenever you order an appraisal with Cleveland Appraisal Services & Home Inspections:

  1. Always order your appraisals online. With online ordering, you get automatic e-mail notifications that the order 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 retype information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we received the request.

  2. Verify that the subject property information is accurate and complete. Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really add unnecessary time to 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 in the area — though be advised that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

    3. You're always free to contact us if you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you.

  3. Be sure to let us know about the property's unique features. It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. 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. Let us know up front when you order your report if there are unique details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's susceptible to flooding. While these are things that we'd find out on our own, knowing them as soon as possible will likely make your report arrive more quickly.

  4. Does the homeowner know what to expect? One of the most time consuming tasks of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the current homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uncomfortable with an unknown person looking in every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. Having the thought that it will increase the value, a few homeowners believe they ought to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by . So they put off the appraisal inspection until they can get around to cleaning.

    Coming directly 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 affect their home's value one bit, will help move the process along for everyone. I encourage you to point your customers to this website, where we have multiple pages of useful information for homeowners and others describing the appraisal process. They can even 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 without delay!

  5. Why not use our website as a resource to keep tabs on the status of your report? 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 can be viewed instantly online. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.