Five Steps to Swifter Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to offer additional information or have steps added to their data gathering. All of this is to guarantee their client has the best data available. To stay current with the continuously changing requirements, MD Appraisal Solutions is always acquiring new tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since MD Appraisal Solutions knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed a couple of tips you can do to decrease turn times every time you order an appraisal with MD Appraisal Solutions.

Are you ordering appraisals online?: By ordering online, you get automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip alone will save the most time! We don't have to retype information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Complete and accurate subject property information is essential.: 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. Even a list of recent area sales is welcome — remember, however, that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.
Are you telling us 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 differing features 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 features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's susceptible to flooding. These are things we'd find out on our own anyway, and knowing them sooner will likely make your report arrive sooner.
Are you making the occupants of the home aware of what to expect?: Confirming an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most tedious steps in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with a stranger inspecting every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making abundant notes. A common belief is that they should make the place spotless before the inspection, with the notion that will make the house appraise for more money. And will choose to not schedule the inspection until it is cleaned.

Hearing from you -- a person they are working with on their loan -- some information 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 shorten the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has numerous pages of relevant information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your customers. 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 without delay!
Are you using our website as a resource to keep tabs on 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 instantly available to you online. There's no easier way to keep track of your report's status.