Some Tips for Swifter Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide additional information or have steps added to their process. All of this is to ensure the end user gets the best information to be had. To stay current with the constantly changing requirements, RWA Appraisals is constantly seeking new tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for faster. Since RWA Appraisals knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed some things you can do to decrease turn times whenever you order an appraisal with RWA Appraisals.

Always order your appraisals online.: When you order online, you get automatic e-mail notifications that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! We don't have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we got the order.
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. We even welcome lists of recent sales in 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.
Tell us up front of the property's unique details.: Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how unique details 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 details 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. These are things we'll find out on our own anyway, and knowing them early on makes your report arrive quicker.
Let the homeowner know what to expect.: Setting an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most tedious steps in the appraisal process. Many current homeowners are understandably uncomfortable with the fact a stranger wants to come in their house, look around, and make abundant notes. With the idea that it will increase the appraised value, many homeowners feel they ought to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by. So they choose to not schedule the appraisal inspection until they have cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- a little information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make it more likely their sale will close, 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. Please feel free to share it with your customers. They can even call us if they want to become familiar with the staff and our services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment without delay!
Our website is a great resource for following your report's status.: Phone and fax tag are a thing of the past with up-to-the-minute status updates available online, anytime, 24/7. As each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information can be viewed instantly online. There's no faster way to keep track of your report's status.