Five Steps to Quicker Turn Times

The appraisal profession is continuously evolving. On a regular basis, it seems, appraisers are asked to present extra information or have steps added to their process. All to guarantee their client gets the best data available. To keep up with the constantly changing requirements, Southern Star Real Estate Services is continuously acquiring new tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for more efficiently. At Southern Star Real Estate Services we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed a handful of items you can do to speed up the process on any appraisals ordered from Southern Star Real Estate Services.

Always order your appraisals electronically.: By ordering online, you automatically receive e-mail confirmations 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 got the request.
Make sure that the subject property data is accurate and complete.: 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 in the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.
Tell us up front of the property's unique characteristics.: Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how unique 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 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 prone to flooding. These are things we would find out on our own anyway, and knowing them as soon as possible will likely make your report arrive faster.
Let the homeowner know what to expect.: One of the most inefficient parts of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the homeowner. Some homeowners are clearly uneasy with the fact an unknown persons wants to come in their home, look around, and take numerous notes. Thinking that it will make the house appraise higher, some homeowners believe they should make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by. So they choose to not schedule the appraisal inspection until they can get around to cleaning.

Coming directly 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 make it more likely their sale will close, and likely decrease the appraisal inspection time. I encourage you to point your customers to this website, where we have many pages of useful information for homeowners as well as others regarding the appraisal process. Advise them to call us if they want to familiarize themselves with the staff and our services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment quickly!
Are you using our website as a resource to track the status of your report?: 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 is available to you online. It's never been faster to track the status of your report.