Five Steps to Swifter Turn Times

Appraising is an always changing profession. Each year, it seems, appraisers are asked to present more information or have steps added to their research. They do this additional work to guarantee the end user has the best information possible. In order to keep up with the always changing requirements, Sirius Appraisal Services is always researching additional tools and tweaking processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for more efficiently. Since Sirius Appraisal Services knows that time is important to everyone, below are some things you can do to lessen turn times on any appraisals you order from Sirius Appraisal Services.

Are you ordering appraisals online?

By ordering online, you receive automatic e-mail notifications that the assignment was received, and fast, secure .PDF format report delivery. This tip alone will save the most time! 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 information is essential.

Having just one number incorrect on the street address can really unnecessarily delay 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 sales in the area is welcome — remember, however, that professional appraisers must always do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours might differ from yours.

You're always free to call us at if you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you.

Be sure to let us know about the unique elements of this property.

It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how differing details add 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 recently had an addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's predisposed to flooding. While these are things that we will find out on our own, knowing them as early as possible is likely to make your report arrive quicker.

Let the occupants know what to expect.

Confirming an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most inefficient tasks in the appraisal process. We understand that a homeowner may be uncomfortable with an outsider inspecting every corner of their home, taking photos, and making abundant notes. Under the impression that it will make the house appraise higher, many homeowners feel they ought to make the place spotless before the inspection. And will put off the appraisal inspection until the house is cleaned.

Coming directly from you -- the person they are working with on their loan -- some 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 shorten the appraisal inspection time. Please feel free to point your customers to our website, where we have multiple pages of helpful information for homeowners as well as others describing the appraisal process. Have them call us if they want to become familiar with the staff and our services. Remind them it benefits them to set the appointment soon!

Our website is a great resource for tracking 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 we complete each important milestone in an assignment, that information is available instantly to you online. It's never been faster to track your report's status.