Some Hints for Faster Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide additional information or have steps added to their research - all to ensure their client is presented with the best data. In order to keep up with the continuously changing requirements, RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc. is constantly seeking additional tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc. knows that time is important to everyone, here are some tips you can do to decrease turn times when you order an appraisal with RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc.:

  1. Order your appraisals on the Internet. By ordering online, you receive automatic e-mail confirmations 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 manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we got the order.

  2. Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property? 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 — however, remember that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

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

  3. Let us know up front of the property's unique elements. Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how features 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 details of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition built on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's susceptible to flooding. While these are things that we'd find out on our own, knowing them early on is likely to make your report arrive more quickly.

  4. Let the occupants know what to expect. Confirming an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient tasks in the appraisal process. We understand that a homeowner may be uneasy with a stranger looking in every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. One common belief is that they need to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, thinking that will make the house appraise higher . So they choose to not schedule the appointment until they have cleaned.

    Hearing it directly from you -- a trusted party with whom they already have a business relationship -- some 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. 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. 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 soon!

  5. Easily keep tabs on the status of your report on our website. Why are you still playing phone and fax tag when our website offers up-to-the-minute status updates available online, anytime, 24/7? As we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information is available instantly to you online. It's never been easier to track your report's status.