Appraisals Northwest is a leader when it comes to technology
At Appraisals Northwest, technology is the name of the game. We're great at making appraising look easy and we think a large amount of it is our ability to increase our productivity with the newest tools. We use the latest technology at our disposal to complete your appraisal without sacrificing quality or accuracy.
While appraisal fees haven't necessarily gone up over the years, the demands placed on individual appraisers have. We put quality first, but we know that turnaround time is critical for many clients. Therefore, we've simply optimized our routine processes to do more in less time. Our continuous efforts to be the best have convinced us that keeping up with new technology allows us to provide more accurate reports, quicker turnaround times and the very best in customer service.
Ordering and Tracking
Years ago, a great deal of orders arrived via fax and were confirmed with phone calls once we got back to the office. Often, in this scenario, it might of taken far too long to hear back to see if the order could be taken. These days, when orders are entered on this website, we receive a text message on our phones. We can even log into this site from the field and send back an e-mail confirmation – including the time and date for the inspection if we've been able to talk to the occupant.
Appraisals Northwest understands that real estate is all about timeliness. We don't make you wait around for replies because we understand the speed at which we get things done directly effects your bottom-line. Through features on this website, we can actually reduce the amount of time needed for your appraisal.
Data Gathering Tools
One of the most time consuming parts of an appraisal is gathering the data. We spend a great deal of time gathering the facts on the subject property and the local market data and trends. Once again, technology has stepped in to help Appraisals Northwest.
We've learned that taking notes regularly, using pencil and paper, generally takes longer since we we have to enter everything back in at the office. Don't be surprised to see us with a tablet PC or collecting data using an app written for our phones that even lets us sketch a floorplan right on the spot. Rather than using that clumsy old tape measure, a larger percentage appraisers are utilizing accurate laser measuring devices that also help measure hard to access areas.
We combine all of these different technologies to ensure that the final report is thorough and accurate, requiring fewer call-backs and revisions. Our goal is to save you time and money.
Modern appraisal report delivery ensures our clients have a number of ways to get their report
Delivery of appraisals as PDF files through e-mail is definitely the standard these days. Generally our clients are most familiar with receiving PDFs attached to their e-mail. It's a lot better than the old days when everything was on paper. But, we've even been able to innovate how you receive your report with this website.
Ever lost a file that was sent to you? Or have you ever had problems sending or receiving an e-mail because of the file size? We have the technology to overcome those problems, too. When we deliver an appraisal through this website, the client gets a link sent to their email to retrieve the PDF. So, at that point, it doesn't matter if all the extra photos and maps in the report result in a large file that would normally be blocked by e-mail. And the best thing is that the file will be hosted on this site for 90 days. So if you lose the file, you can log back in here and retrieve it again - saving you time, since we won't even need to run back to the computer.
Digital Workfile Technology
It would probably be easier if appraisers could never have to think about an assignment again after writing and giving it to the client. However, appraisals are used to show the condition of a property on the inspection date. Therefore, appraisers are required by law to keep their reports for 5 years, allowing them to recall any appraisal at any time to either defend the valuation or to be used in other legal proceedings.
Here again, Appraisals Northwest leverages our investment in technology to improve service. We store every part of the appraisal - notes, sketches, supporting documentation and calculations - along with the appraisal electronically, we can pull up the entire file whenever it's needed and recall exactly what that job was about.
These are just a few examples of how we use technology daily. Investing in the right tools, along with the appraisal know-how that you've grown to expect allows the appraiser to save time without cutting corners and deliver a better product to you, our client.
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