A Few Hints for Shorter Turn Times

The appraisal profession is always evolving. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to offer extra information or have steps added to their appraisal process. They do this extra work to guarantee the end user is presented with the most useful information possible. In order to keep up with the constantly changing requirements, Hayes Appraisal Group, Inc. is always researching new tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. At Hayes Appraisal Group, Inc. we know that time is important to everybody, so below are a couple of tips you can do to accelerate the process on any appraisals you order with Hayes Appraisal Group, Inc.:

  1. Always order your appraisals electronically. 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 manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.

  2. Complete and accurate subject property data is essential. There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to 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 from the area — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

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

  3. Are you telling us up front any details of the property that might make it distinct? Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how details unique to a property contribute 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 recently had an addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's predisposed to flooding. These are things we would find out on our own anyway, and knowing them early on makes your report arrive more quickly.

  4. Does the homeowner know what to expect? One of the most tedious parts of the appraisal process is setting an inspection date with the homeowner. Many homeowners are understandably apprehensive with the idea that a stranger wants to come in their home, look around, and make abundant notes. Having the thought that it will make the house appraise higher, many homeowners believe they need to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by . So they delay the appointment until it is cleaned.

    Coming from you -- a trusted party with whom they are already working -- some information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't affect their home's value one bit, will help move the process along for everyone. Please feel free to point your clients to this website, where we have lots of pages of helpful information for homeowners as well as others about the appraisal process. Encourage them to call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment quickly!

  5. Easily track the status of your report on our website. 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 instantly to you online. There's no easier way to keep track of your report's status.