Five Tips for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply extra information or have steps added to their data gathering. All of this is to ensure their client gets the most useful data that can be achieved. To stay current with the always changing requirements, Rudin Appraisals is continuously testing new tools and improving processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Rudin Appraisals we know that time is important to everybody, so below are some tips you can do to decrease turn times on any appraisals ordered with Rudin Appraisals:

Order your appraisals on the Internet. With online ordering, you automatically receive e-mail acknowledgements that the request was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip single-handedly will save the most time! We don't have to retype information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether the order was received.
Confirm that the subject property data is accurate and complete. There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to 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 — however, remember that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.


	You're always welcome to contact us if you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you.

Tell us up front of the property's unique characteristics. It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. What takes time is 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 features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's prone to flooding. These are things we will find out on our own anyway, and knowing them as early as possible makes your report arrive more quickly.
Did you make the occupants of the home aware of what to expect? One of the most time consuming parts of the appraisal process is setting an inspection date with the current homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an outsider looking in every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making copious notes. Some think they should make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, believing that will make the house appraise higher . So they reschedule the appraisal inspection until the house is cleaned.

Coming from you -- a trusted party with whom they are already working -- a little information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make a significant difference in their home's value, will help move the process along for everyone. I encourage you to point your clients to our website, where we have lots of pages of useful information for homeowners and others regarding the appraisal process. They can even call us if they want to familiarize themselves with the staff and our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment as quickly as possible!
Easily verify the status of your report on our website. 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. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.