Five Tips for Swifter Turn Times

The appraisal profession is continuously evolving. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to include additional information or have steps added to their data gathering. All to ensure the end user has the best information available. To stay current with the always changing requirements, Collin Gray Appraisal Co. is constantly researching additional tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. Since Collin Gray Appraisal Co. knows that time is important to everyone, here are a handful of things you can do to lessen turn times when you order an appraisal with Collin Gray Appraisal Co..

Are you ordering appraisals online?: By ordering online, you automatically get e-mail confirmations that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. Online ordering 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.
Make sure that the subject property data is accurate and complete.: Being just one number off 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 from the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may be different from yours.
Are you letting us know up front any features of the property that might make it distinct?: Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how elements unique to a property 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 features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. These are things we'll find out on our own anyway, and knowing them as soon as possible makes your report arrive more quickly.
Do the occupants know what to expect?: One of the most time consuming tasks of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the current homeowner. Some homeowners are clearly uncomfortable with the notion an unknown persons wants to come in their home, look around, and make copious notes. Some think they have to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, under the impression that will increase the value. So they put off the appraisal inspection until they have cleaned.

Hearing from you -- a person they are working with on their loan -- a little 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 can decrease the appraisal inspection time. I encourage you to point your clients to this website, where we have lots of pages of relevant information for homeowners and others about the appraisal process. They can even call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!
Use our website to verify your report's status.: 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. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.