5 Steps to Shorter Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to present extra information or have steps added to their process. They do this additional work to ensure their client receives the best data possible. To stay current with the continuously changing requirements, Peterson Appraisal Group is always seeking new tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for you. Since Peterson Appraisal Group knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed a few items you can do to hasten the process on any appraisals you order with Peterson Appraisal Group.

Are you ordering appraisals online?
With online ordering, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip alone will save the most time! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and nor will you 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 slow down 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 area sales is welcome — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.

If you have any questions about your property or an appraisal we're working on for you, feel free to contact us

Let us know up front of the property's distinct characteristics.
It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how characteristics unique to a property add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when you order your report if there are unique elements of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we would find out on our own, knowing them early on is likely to make your report arrive more quickly.
Let the occupants know what to expect.
One of the most time consuming steps of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the occupants of the home. Many homeowners are understandably apprehensive with the idea a stranger wants to come in their house, look around, and take abundant notes. Many commonly think they have to make the place spotless before the inspection, with the idea that will make the house appraise higher. And will choose to not schedule the appraisal inspection until it is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- a person they are 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 lots of pages of useful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your clients. Have them call us if they want to meet the staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment quickly!
Our website is a great resource for keeping tabs on the status of your report.
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 or easier way to track the status of your report.