Five Steps to Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is always evolving. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide extra information or have steps added to their data gathering. They do this extra work to ensure their client gets the best analysis possible. In order to stay current with the continuously changing requirements, Farmer Appraisal Services is continuously acquiring additional tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. Since Farmer Appraisal Services knows that time is important to everyone, below are some things you can do to speed up the process whenever you order an appraisal from Farmer Appraisal Services:

  1. Are you ordering appraisals online? With online ordering, you automatically get e-mail notifications that the request was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. Ordering online is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we got the request.

  2. Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property? There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name is great information to pass along with your assignment. We even welcome lists of recent sales in the area — though be advised that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may be different from yours.

    3. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you.

  3. Are you letting us know up front any characteristics of the property that might make it unique? Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how unique characteristics contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When ordering your report, let us know if there are unique characteristics of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we will find out on our own, knowing them as early as possible makes your report arrive without delay.

  4. Let the homeowner know what to expect. Setting an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient parts in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an unknown person looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making abundant notes. One common belief is that they ought to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, with the idea that will make the house appraise for more money . So they put off the inspection until it is cleaned.

    Coming from you -- a trusted party with whom they already have a business relationship -- a little info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't increase their home's value one bit, will help move the process along for everyone. Our website has numerous pages of useful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your customers. Have them call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment as soon as possible!

  5. Why not use our website as a resource to keep tabs on your report's status? No more phone and fax tag. Up-to-the-minute status updates are available online, anytime, 24/7. As we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information can be viewed instantly online. There's no easier or faster way to track the status of your report.