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A Few Tips for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide extra information or have steps added to their process. All of this is to guarantee their client is presented with the best data possible. In order to keep up with the continuously changing requirements, 618 Appraisal Service, LLC is always seeking new tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. At 618 Appraisal Service, LLC we know that time is important to everybody, so here are a few tips you can do to accelerate the process on any appraisals you order from 618 Appraisal Service, LLC.

Are you ordering appraisals online?
With online ordering, you automatically get e-mail confirmations that the request 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 re-key information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Complete and accurate subject property data is essential.
Being just one number off on the street address can really unnecessarily interrupt 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 — remember, however, that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may be different from yours.

If you have any questions about your property or an assignment we're working on for you, don't hesitate to contact us

Are you telling us up front any characteristics of the property that might make it distinct?
Cookie-cutter homes are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing characteristics 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, it's susceptible to flooding. While these are things that we'll find out on our own, knowing them sooner makes your report arrive faster.
Be sure the occupants know the the plan.
Setting an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient tasks in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be apprehensive with an outsider inspecting every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making copious notes. Thinking that it will increase the value, a few homeowners believe they must make the place spotless before the inspection. And will choose to not schedule the appointment until it is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- the person they've been working with on their loan -- some 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 can decrease the appraisal inspection time. Please feel free to point them to our website, where we have many pages of helpful information for homeowners as well as others describing the appraisal process. 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 promptly!
Our website is a great resource for keeping tabs on 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 is instantly available to you online. It's never been faster to track the status of your report.