A Few Steps to Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Each year, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply more information or have steps added to their research - all to ensure the end user receives the most useful information that can be achieved. To stay current with the constantly changing requirements, Straightline Appraisal is continuously seeking additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. Since Straightline Appraisal knows that time is important to everyone, here are a handful of things you can do to lessen turn times when you order an appraisal with Straightline Appraisal:

Are you ordering appraisals online? With online ordering, you automatically receive e-mail confirmations that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. Online ordering 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 the order was received.
Make sure that the subject property information is accurate and complete. Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are good data to pass along with your request. We even welcome lists of recent sales from 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.


	If you have any questions about your property or an assignment we're working on for you, don't hesitate to call us at (920) 606-9745

Let us know up front of the property's unique details. It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. What takes time is analyzing how unique features add 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 recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's prone to flooding. While these are things that we'd find out on our own, knowing them as early as possible will likely make your report arrive earlier.
Be sure the occupants know the plan. Confirming an inspection time and date with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient tasks in the appraisal process. Many current homeowners are understandably uneasy with the thought that an unknown persons wants to come in their home, look around, and take abundant notes. A common belief is that they ought to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, having the thought that will make the house appraise for more money . So they reschedule the inspection until they have cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- a trusted party with whom they already have a business relationship -- 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. Our website has lots of pages of helpful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. I encourage you to share it with your clients. Have them call us if they want to familiarize themselves with our staff and services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment soon!
Easily verify 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 each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information is available to you online. It's never been easier and faster to keep track of your report's status.