Five Suggestions for Faster Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Commonly, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply more information or have steps added to their appraisal process. They do this extra work to guarantee their client gets the best data available. In order to keep up with the constantly changing requirements, Hampton Real Estate and Appraisal Inc is always testing additional tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Hampton Real Estate and Appraisal Inc we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed some tips you can do to speed up the process when you order an appraisal with Hampton Real Estate and Appraisal Inc.

Order your appraisals electronically.: When you order online, you receive automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip alone will save the most time! No longer do we have to retype information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Are you providing complete and accurate data about the subject property?: 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 sales from the area is welcome — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.
Are you telling us up front any details of the property that might make it distinct?: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. What takes time is analyzing how differing elements contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When you order your report, let us know if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. While these are things that we'll find out on our own, knowing them sooner is likely to make your report arrive without delay.
Be sure the homeowner knows the the plan.: One of the most time consuming parts of the appraisal process is setting an inspection date with the homeowner. Some current homeowners are justifiably apprehensive with the idea an outsider wants to come in their house, look around, and take numerous notes. Some think they ought to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, with the belief that will make the house appraise for more money. And will reschedule the inspection until the house is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- someone they've been working with on their loan -- a little info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't increase their home's value one little bit, and likely decrease the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has many pages of relevant information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your clients. They can even call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it's to their advantage to set the appointment as quickly as possible!
Use our website to keep track of 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 is instantly available to you online. It's never been easier and faster to track your report's status.