How to get a Faster Appraisal

If you worked with appraisers ten years ago, you know how much technology has changed since then. However, with the new lending environment some of the steps made by technology have been negated. Are you taking advantage of every opportunity you have to speed up the process? Here are some suggestions.

1. Are you providing complete and accurate information about the subject property? 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. If the property is a new construction, we need a preliminary title report, construction documents, a copy of the construction plans and any other information that will help the appraiser complete the report. If you are ordering a Condo, the appraiser would LOVE the Condo Cert.
2. Are you letting us know up front any details about the property that might make it unique? Cookie-cutter homes are relatively "simple" to appraise. What takes time is analyzing how unique features contribute to or detract from what otherwise would be a property's market value. Let us know up front when you order your report if there are unique features of the home or surrounding area — for example, it's had a recent addition put on, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's prone to flooding. These are things we'll find out on our own anyway, and knowing them as soon as possible makes it easier for decisions to be made earlier in the process.
3. Are you making the occupants of the home aware of what to expect? One of the most time consuming parts of the appraisal process is setting an appointment with the occupants of the home. Some homeowners are understandably uncomfortable with the fact a stranger wants to come in their house and look around and make notes. Some think they have to make the place spotless before the appraiser comes by, thinking that will make the house appraise higher. Any delay by the borrower in setting a timely appointment means a delay in the appraisal being returned by the appraiser.

   Is your homeowner going on vacation, only available on a certain day, in the middle of a remodel? All that information is beneficial for us to know in the beginning to enable us to accurately schedule the appointment.

   Another issue involves properties that have a tenant. The Landlord must give their tenant 24 hour written notice to inspect the property. This on average has increased turn times by as much as 5 days.

4. Have you given us time to adequately complete the appraisal assignment? Receiving the order, setting the appointment and doing the inspection can be done relatively quickly. What takes time is the actual evaluation of the property's value. This includes research regarding market conditions and trends, current and past sales history; current and past permits involving remodeling or other projects, external factors that affect marketability and extensive analysis of comparables. "Cookie-Cutter" homes are typically completed in a shorter amount of time than a property that has distinguishing characteristics that must be analyzed and reported. This includes factors such as commercial influences in the surrounding neighborhoods, waterfront properties, properties with acreage or farming factors, high end properties where the value is in the million dollar+ range, properties located in a seriously declining market (over 6 months average sales time) or multi-family. The appraisal report is not a "fill in the blanks" report. Average turn-around time is 5 days for most properties. Again, this is average time. Your property may be under or over that time. For Rural or Unique properties we are seeing up to 10 business days. Business days are Monday-Friday in most areas.
5. Have you allowed for the 3 Day Disclosure and 3 Day Borrower Copy of Appraisal Laws? Everyone wants a deal to close quickly. Unfortunately, with today’s new laws that can seem impossible. Why pressure everyone…keep your closed dates realistic. If you know an appraisal averages 5-7 business days and you have 6 days of governmental requirements, a 7 day turn time is basically unrealistic unless you pressure the appraiser to perform a 24 hour turn-around. The person who you don’t want to pressure IS the appraiser! Please help us keep our industry’s reliability and give us time to accurately and thoroughly complete our job.

Appraisers take their job very seriously. Underwriting standards are becoming more tightened and the required research for an appraisal has increased. This has decreased the volume that an individual appraiser can handle. The end result is increased appraisal turn-times. We will do our best to handle “RUSH” assignments as needed, but not every file can be a rush.

As always, communication is your best defense in this new lending environment!