5 Suggestions for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is constantly evolving. Every year, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide more information or have steps added to their research. They do this extra work to guarantee the end user receives the best information available. In order to keep up with the continuously changing requirements, Lot and Block Appraisal is always acquiring new tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. Since Lot and Block Appraisal knows that time is important to everyone, below are a few things you can do to speed up the process whenever you order an appraisal with Lot and Block Appraisal.

Always order your appraisals online.
With online ordering, you get automatic e-mail acknowledgements that the request 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 retype information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we received the order.
Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property?
Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really 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. Even a list of recent area sales is welcome — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always 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 an assignment we're working on for you.

Tell us up front of the property's unique details.
It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. What takes time is analyzing how elements unique to a property contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. When you order your report, let us know if there are unique elements of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. While these are things that we'd find out on our own, knowing them early on will likely make your report arrive quicker.
Let the homeowner know what to expect.
Confirming an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most tedious tasks in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be apprehensive with a stranger looking in every corner of their home, taking pictures, and making numerous notes. Believing that it will increase the value, many homeowners believe they must make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection. And will put off the appointment until the house is cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- someone they have been working with on their loan -- a little information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't make it more likely their sale will close, and likely decrease the appraisal inspection time. I encourage you to point your customers to this website, where we have lots of pages of relevant information for homeowners as well as others describing the appraisal process. Encourage them to call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. And tell them it benefits them to set the appointment as soon as possible!
Use our website to verify your report's status.
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 can be viewed instantly online. It's never been faster to track the status of your report.