5 Steps to Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is always evolving. Commonly, it seems, appraisers are asked to offer extra information or have steps added to their appraisal process. All to ensure their client receives the best information available. In order to stay current with the always changing requirements, Duncan Appraisals is continuously acquiring additional tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since Duncan Appraisals knows that time is important to everyone, below are some tips you can do to accelerate the process whenever you order an appraisal with Duncan Appraisals.

Are you ordering appraisals online?

With online ordering, you automatically receive e-mail acknowledgements that the request 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 re-key information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether the order was received.

Complete and accurate subject property information is crucial.

Being just one number off on the street address can really unnecessarily interrupt an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name is good information to pass long with your assignment. We even welcome lists of recent sales in the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

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

Be sure to let us know about the property's distinct elements.

It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. What takes time is analyzing how unique features contribute 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 recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we would find out on our own, knowing them early on makes your report arrive quicker.

Set proper expectations with the homeowner.

Confirming an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient tasks in the appraisal process. We understand that a homeowner may be apprehensive with an unknown person looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making lots of notes. Under the belief that it will increase the value, many homeowners think they ought to make the place spotless before the inspection. So they put off the appointment until it is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- the person they've been working with on their loan -- a little knowledge about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't increase their home's value one little bit, and can shorten the appraisal inspection time. Our website has many pages of relevant information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your clients. They can even call us if they want to familiarize themselves with our staff and services. Remind them it's in their interest to set the appointment soon!

Use our website to verify your report's status.

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 is available to you online. It's never been faster to track the status of your report.