Some Tips for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is evolving at all times. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide more information or have steps added to their process. All of this is to ensure their client is presented with the best data available. To stay current with the constantly changing requirements, Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc. is always testing additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. At Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc. we know that time is important to everybody, so here are a few items you can do to trim turn times on any appraisals ordered with Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc..

Always order your appraisals online.: When you order online, you automatically receive e-mail acknowledgements that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip single-handedly will save the most time! No longer do we have to retype information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether the order was received.
Complete and accurate subject property data is key.: Being just one number off 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. 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 may be different from yours.
Are you telling us up front any elements of the property that might make it unique?: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. What takes time is analyzing how features unique to a property contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when ordering your report if there are unique details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. These are things we would find out on our own anyway, and knowing them as early as possible is likely to make your report arrive quicker.
Do the occupants know what to expect?: Setting an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most tedious steps in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be apprehensive with a stranger looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making numerous notes. With the idea that it will make the house appraise higher, many homeowners think they have to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by. And will reschedule the appointment until they have cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- a little knowledge 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 time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has numerous pages of relevant information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your clients. Advise them to call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it's to their advantage to set the appointment soon!
Why not our website as a resource to verify 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 instantly to you online. It's never been easier to track your report's status.