Five Suggestions for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is evolving at all times. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply extra information or have steps added to their appraisal process. All of this is to ensure the end user gets the best data to be had. In order to stay current with the always changing requirements, Southern Star Real Estate Services is constantly researching new tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. At Southern Star Real Estate Services we know that time is important to everybody, so below are a few tips you can do to speed up the process on any appraisals ordered with Southern Star Real Estate Services.

Always order your appraisals electronically.: When you order online, you automatically get e-mail confirmations that the request was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip single-handedly will save the most time! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we received the request.
Complete and accurate subject property data is crucial.: Being just one number off on the street address can really unnecessarily interrupt 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 — remember, however, that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.
Let us know up front of the property's unique features.: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing features add 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 constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. These are things we would find out on our own anyway, and knowing them sooner will likely make your report arrive more quickly.
Be sure the homeowner knows the the plan.: Setting an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most time consuming parts in the appraisal process. We understand that a homeowner may be uncomfortable with an outsider looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making lots of notes. Not uncommonly they think they ought to make the place spotless before the inspection, with the notion that will increase the value. So they reschedule the inspection until the house is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- someone they are working with on their loan -- some info 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 go a long way toward trimming the time it takes to inspect a home. I encourage you to point your customers to our website, where we have several pages of relevant information for homeowners as well as others about the appraisal process. Have them call us if they want to become familiar with the staff and our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!
Use our website to verify 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 is available to you online. There's no easier way to keep track of your report's status.