5 Hints for Shorter Turn Times

Appraising is a constantly changing profession. Often, it seems, appraisers are asked to supply more information or have steps added to their process. All of this is to ensure their client receives the most useful data possible. To stay current with the always changing requirements, Karner Appraisals, LLC is continuously acquiring new tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for more effectively. Since Karner Appraisals, LLC knows that time is important to everyone, we've listed some tips you can do to decrease turn times each time you order an appraisal from Karner Appraisals, LLC:

Are you ordering appraisals online? When you order online, you get automatic e-mail notifications that the order was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This is the single biggest time saver available to both of us! No longer do we have to manually enter information from a fax, and you don't have to wonder whether we got the order.
Complete and accurate subject property data is crucial. There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to 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 — though be advised that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.


	Feel free to call us at 724-553-5800 if you have any questions about your property or an appraisal we're working on for you.

Let us know up front of the property's unique features. It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter home. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how unique features 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 characteristics of the home or surrounding area -- for example, it's recently had an addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, and it's predisposed to flooding. These are things we will find out on our own anyway, and knowing them early on makes your report arrive more quickly.
Be sure the occupants know the plan. One of the most tedious parts of the appraisal process is confirming an appointment with the homeowner. Some homeowners are understandably apprehensive with the idea that an outsider wants to come in their house, look around, and make abundant notes. Under the impression that it will increase the appraised value, a few homeowners believe they have to make the place spotless before the inspection and will delay the appraisal inspection until they have cleaned.

Hearing it directly from you -- a trusted party with whom they are already working -- a little information about the appraisal process, who we are, and especially that dusting and polishing won't change their home's value one bit, will help move the process along for everyone. Please feel free to point them to our website, where we have lots of pages of helpful information for homeowners as well as others about the appraisal process. They can even call us if they want to meet our staff and learn more about our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment quickly!
Easily follow 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 each important milestone in an assignment is completed, that information can be viewed instantly online. It's never been easier to keep track of your report's status.