Why hire a technically advanced appraiser

Of all the settlement service providers in the real estate industry, by far, appraisers can increase efficiency by leveraging technology.  By necessity, we have been drawn into the digital world at a pace not seen by our colleagues.  The appraisal process is one that lends itself to technology - and technology has paid significant dividends to those appraisers who have invested in it.  These dividends are shared with the our clients in the form of shorter turn-around times and a much better final valuation report.

Ordering
Millions of real estate transactions are processed each year in the United States.  The vast majority of these transactions require some sort of appraisal.  Technology has allowed savvy appraisers to reduce the amount of work their client's need to order, track and receive appraisals.  In the past, the primary mode of interaction between an appraiser and his clients was the telephone and fax machine.  Clients would send requests via fax and then often follow it up with a phone call to make sure it was received.  Tracking the progress of the appraisal meant more phone calls - a disruption for both the client and the appraiser.

But Blackburn & Associates has a better method.  Using tools like this web site, complete with the ability to order appraisals on line, allows our clients to shave valuable time off the process of ordering and tracking appraisals.  Technologies like a la mode's net.X network are advancing this concept even further, giving its users the ability to not only order appraisals, but track their progress all the way until delivery, virtually eliminating phone tag.

Data Collection
The appraisal process is research intensive.  Appraisers spend a lot of their time gathering both specific information about the subject property and general data about the local market and developing trends.  

The Internet has revolutionized the ability of appraisers to get quality data in a fraction of the time it once took.  Where once an appraiser would spend hours manually finding data, internet based geocoding, mapping, street and flood maps, standardized addressing, accurate postal coding, census tract information, etc. are now all a click away.  This ensures that the final report is as complete and accurate as possible, requiring fewer revisions....a real money saver for busy appraisal clients.

Report Delivery
At Blackburn & Associates, we leverage our investment in technology to improve the delivery process.  The paper appraisal is largely a thing of the past, having given way to a much more efficient electronic delivery system.  Utilizing Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) files, we deliver a complete, multi-page report, with digital photos and maps, through simple e-mail.  Now, instead of waiting for the daily mail or paying for expensive courier services, our clients can simply log into their company email system and retrieve all appraisals at one time.  Without wasting paper to print the appraisal, the report can then be routed to the appropriate loan officer, underwriter or title company in seconds.  

The next generation of advanced applications will leverage our net.X based web site to not only order appraisals, but also to manage the delivery process.  Before an appraisal is ever delivered, this cutting edge technology even reviews the report and ensures that it meets certain guidelines.  When the final report is received, the client can be sure the appraisal meets all their basic criteria.  Follow up and revisions are minimized, lowering everybody's cost of doing business.  At BlackburnAppraisals.com, our clients even have virtual access to any appraisal they've ordered in the past.  

These are just a few examples of how our technology is improving the business workflows of our clients.  Investing in the right services and peripherals allows us to deliver reports quicker, more efficiently and with a higher degree of accuracy.  All of which helps keep costs down, and save the client time and money.