What Makes Your Appraisal Hi-Tech

At Hi-Tech Appraisers we use the latest advances in technology to complete your appraisal. Most appraisal companies do things the Old Fashioned way, which is great for Service but that is where the similarity ends. From the moment we receive an order (even before we know about it) your appraisal is on its way to be a Hi-Tech model for efficiency. Let's look at some of the steps involved in the making of your appraisal.

Ordering

Let's start at the beginning. Millions of real estate transactions are processed each year in the United States. Almost all of them require some sort of appraisal. Technology has allowed Hi-Tech Appraisers to reduce the amount of work their client's (your lender) need to order, track and receive appraisals. Most appraisal companies still use the fax machine and telephone as their primary way of conducting business which is not a bad thing, but we think we have a better way of doing it. In the above example, after the order is placed, most of the time the loan officer calls to make sure it was received and then they would have to follow up with more phone calls to track the progress of the order, this being a disruption for both the client and the appraiser.

But now, with the use of modern technology, our clients can visit our website; to place an order and then track it on line as it is accepted, the inspection is scheduled, the inspection is complete and when to expect the finished appraisal without ever having to make a phone call or track down the appraiser. Any questions the loan officer might have can be e-mailed to the appraiser to get a quick response (more on this later).

Data Gathering

Now this is where the real difference comes into play. In the field we use Tablet PC's for data collection. Over 95% of appraisers still use the old clipboard with pen and paper to collect data and make notes about the property. At Hi-Tech Appraisers we use Tablet PC's. Some other appraisal firms might use Pocket size PC's for collecting data which is a great leap forward from pen and paper, but with our process we fill in the exact form that the appraisal will come on, thus saving time and improving accuracy since we don't have to go back to the office and transcribe our hand written notes onto the actual form. This time saving method alone gives up a leg up on our competitors. Since we don't have to rush, rush, rush to get the appraisal data and rush , rush, rush back to the office to transcribe it, we can take more time the the home and do a better job to make sure the data we insert into your appraisal is 100% accurate.

Other tools we use in the filed are Leica Disto Laser Meters, with these marvels of the 21st century, getting the correct measurement of the house is faster and more accurate than ever before. These electronic marvels can accurately measure up to 650 feet within a tenth of an inch, indoors or out. While no appraiser needs to measure that precisely, we have the capacity for a much more accurate measurement than with an old fashioned tape measure and lets not forget to mention its also much, much quicker! And soon with the release of a new sketching program for our Tablet PC's we will be using "Blue Tooth" technology. What this means is that with the measurements from our Leica Disto Laser Meter that we take as we walk around the house, they will transfer to our Tablet PC's and automatically sketch the house and make all the calculations needed to complete proper square footage measurements. Of course almost all appraisers use digital cameras for photographing the house which is great, but we take it one step further. We can download the photos right then and there on the proper forms on our Tablet PC making sure we have every photo we need and don't need to disturb anyone again with a follow up visit.

You are most likely thinking, is that data that they just collected about the house safe out in the field? You bet it is. Our Tablet PC's are equipped with a biometric security feature. What this means is that if our Tablet PC fell into the wrong hands (stolen) the data is safe. A fingerprint from the appraiser is needed to access any of the data. Passwords are great but by using this feature we think once again we are that step above our competitors.

Of course collecting data at the home is just the beginning. Using the internet we can collect quality data in a fraction of the time it once took. With just a few clicks of the mouse we can do things like: add flood maps, census data and postal address coding making the report as accurate as possible, thus requiring fewer revisions and quicker turn around times. Before we send any report out we run it through final step. An appraisal is a very complex document so we use a Error and Omissions checker on the appraisal report. By doing this, it looks at thousands of things that we might have overlooked and gives us a warning to correct them before sending the report to the lender. Some of the things it might catch are unsigned reports, a wrong date somewhere in the report, any missing field data (basement square footage for example) and using guidelines set up in the industry it can let us know if something may be questioned so we can explain it it the addendum so it does not pose a problem at a later date.

Report delivery

Almost all appraisers deliver  their reports now over the internet, we are no exception to this rule. In most cases the reports are sent as an attachment to the clients email address in a PDF format. Once we sign the report with our digital signature, it cannot be changed in any way without the appraisers fingerprint assuring what we put into the report status in the report.

Behind the scenes

Some of the behind the scenes things that happen really make us stand out from our competitors. Lets give you an example. Lets say a lender gets a condition (needs additional information) on some aspect of the report and you are closing on the loan in two hours. At most appraisal companies there is a mad rush once that phone call is received, they have to locate the appraiser who did the report, hope they are somewhere that they can access the report (at home or in the office) and then make the updates that are needed and then send the report back to the lender. If the appraiser happens to be in the office or at home and can access the report, great: problem solved but many times the appraiser will be out on an inspection and could be many hours before getting back to the office, thus holding up or even canceling the closing for that day. Once again, we have a better way. Our appraisers carry their Tablet PC's with them like most people always carry their cell phones. When that call, fax or email comes in, our appraisers know about it immediately and with having their Tablet PC with them at all times and using Wireless Broadband Access, they can download the report from the "Vault" (more about this later) make the changes right in the car and send the back to the lender, saving the day!

We only use cell phones for our business, why call an office and leave a message for the appraiser when you can just call them direct. We also have all of our faxes delivered by efax, which drops them right into our email (which of course we can access anytime with our Tablet PC). So no matter what type of communication our clients use, phone, fax or email; we are ready to answer the call not matter where we might be.

More on the "Vault" Appraisers must keep their reports for five years in case of any legal proceedings or defending the valuation of the report. This not only includes the report itself but any notes or other forms of data (public records, real estate listings, etc.) used in conjunction with the report. This can add up to a lot of paper or at least it used to. We now not only do the report and store it on the computer but all supporting material is also stored in an electronic workfile, meaning there is no papers to misplace or loose.

Besides keeping the report on our computer at our office, all of our reports are backed up every night on remote servers (the Vault) located across the country. Lets say our office burned down! We could get a new computer setup and within a matter of hours be back up and fully running with no lose of data what so ever. By using this same Vault, we can download the report that needed changes mentioned above, make the changes needed, send the updated report to the client and back to our office where the updated report will be sent that night to replace the old copy in the Vault and be ready if we ever need it again!

And finally

We hope this look into the technology that we use in producing the appraisal has been informative and takes some of the mystery our of why we call ourselves Hi-Tech Appraisers.