A Few Hints for Swifter Turn Times

The appraisal profession is constantly evolving. Each year, it seems, appraisers are asked to provide more information or have steps added to their appraisal process. All to ensure the end user has the best data to be had. To stay current with the constantly changing requirements, Mountain Home Properties is always testing additional tools and improving processes to increase efficiency so we can do more work for our clients. At Mountain Home Properties we know that time is important to everybody, so here are some things you can do to lessen turn times on any appraisals ordered with Mountain Home Properties.

Are you ordering appraisals online?

With online ordering, you get automatic e-mail confirmations that the request 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 data is essential.

There's nothing like being one number off on the street address to add unnecessary time to an appraisal assignment. Unique identifiers like a tax parcel number, plat map number, or subdivision name are good data to pass long with your assignment. We even welcome lists of recent sales from the area — remember, however, that professional appraisers are lawfully required to do their own due diligence on comparable sales, and ours may differ from yours.

If you have any questions about your property or a job we're working on for you, don't hesitate to call us at

Are you telling us up front any details of the property that might make it unique?

It's relatively easy to appraise a cookie-cutter house. Most of an appraiser's time is spent analyzing how features unique to a property add 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 had a recent addition constructed, it's subject to zoning restrictions, it's susceptible to flooding. While these are things that we'll find out on our own, knowing them as soon as possible makes your report arrive faster.

Be sure the occupants know the the plan.

Setting an appointment with the homeowner can be one of the most time consuming tasks in the appraisal process. It's understandable for a homeowner to be apprehensive with a stranger looking in every square foot of their home, taking photos, and making copious notes. Some think they have to make the place spotless before the appraisal inspection, having the thought that will increase the appraised value. So they put off the appointment until the house is cleaned.

Hearing from you -- someone 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 increase their home's value one little bit, and likely go a long way toward trimming the time it takes to inspect a home. Our website has multiple pages of helpful information about the appraisal process for homeowners. Please feel free to share it with your clients. Have them call us if they want to become familiar with our staff and services. And tell them it's in their interest to set the appointment as soon as possible!

Use our website to keep tabs on your report's status.

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 can be viewed instantly online. It's never been easier to track the status of your report.