Five Tips for Quicker Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to present additional information or have steps added to their process. All to ensure the end user has the best data to be had. To keep up with the continuously changing requirements, Michigan Appraising is always acquiring additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our customers. Since Michigan Appraising knows that time is important to everyone, here are some tips you can do to speed up the process on any appraisals you order with Michigan Appraising.

Are you ordering appraisals online?: When you order online, you receive automatic e-mail notifications 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! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and nor will you wonder whether we received the order.
Confirm 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. 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 from the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.
Tell us up front of the property's unique characteristics.: It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing 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 details 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 sooner is likely to make your report arrive quicker.
Be sure the occupants know the the plan.: One of the most time consuming steps of the appraisal process is confirming an inspection date with the current homeowner. It's understandable for a homeowner to be uneasy with an outsider inspecting every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. Some think they must make the place spotless before the inspection, with the belief that will increase the value. And will choose to not schedule the appointment until the house is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- a person they've been working with on their loan -- a little info about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't affect their home's value one little bit, and can go a long way toward trimming the time it takes to inspect a home. Please feel free to point them to this website, where we have lots of pages of relevant information for homeowners and others regarding the appraisal process. Tell them to call us if they want to familiarize themselves with our staff and services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment without delay!
Are you using our website as a resource to keep track of the status of your report?: 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 instantly to you online. There's no easier or faster way to keep track of your report's status.