5 Hints for Faster Turn Times

The appraisal profession is constantly evolving. Regularly, it seems, appraisers are asked to include additional information or have steps added to their data gathering. They do this additional work to guarantee the end user is presented with the best information to be had. In order to keep up with the always changing requirements, Premier Appraisal of SoCal is always testing new tools and tweaking processes in order to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Premier Appraisal of SoCal we know that time is important to everybody, so we've listed a few tips you can do to accelerate the process when you order an appraisal with Premier Appraisal of SoCal.

Order your appraisals on the Internet.

When you order online, 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 re-key information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we got the order.

Are you providing complete and accurate data about the subject property?

There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to unnecessarily slow down an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are great data to pass long with the assignment. Even a list of recent sales in the area 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.

Feel free to call us at if you have any questions about your property or an assignment we're working on for you.

Let us know up front of the property's unique characteristics.

Cookie-cutter houses are relatively easy to appraise. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how unique characteristics add to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when ordering your report if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's had a recent addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. These are things we will find out on our own anyway, and knowing them sooner makes your report arrive quicker.

Did you make the occupants of the home aware of what to expect?

One of the most time consuming steps of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the current homeowner. Some current homeowners are understandably uneasy with the idea an outsider wants to come in their home, look around, and make lots of notes. Many commonly think they ought to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, believing that will increase the appraised value. So they delay the appraisal inspection until it is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- a person they have been working with on their loan -- some information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't change their home's value one little bit, and can shorten the time it takes to inspect a home. I encourage you to point them to our website, where we have many pages of relevant information for homeowners as well as others regarding the appraisal process. They can even call us if they want to familiarize themselves with our staff and services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!

Easily keep tabs on the status of your report on our website.

Phone and fax tag are a thing of the past with up-to-the-minute status updates available online, anytime, 24/7. As we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information is available to you online. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.