Quick Inspections

[sputnam]

Often when I am inspecting a residential property, the homeowner will comment about how thorough I've been. They will say something like "The last appraiser we had was only here for 10 minutes". No doubt, sometimes the homeowner has that impression because the appraiser did the outside inspection without knocking on the door first. The homeowner didn't know they were on the property. Maybe I'm slow (I'm not), but even a 1,000 sf ranch on a slab takes at least 20 minutes to inspect.

What do you think? Can you do a thorough appraisal inspection in 10 minutes or less? How many of our fellow appraisers are doing slip shod inspections? And, how much can a shoddy inspection impact the appraisal and appraisal report?

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Often when I am inspecting a residential property, the homeowner will comment about how thorough I've been. They will say something like "The last appraiser we had was only here for 10 minutes". No doubt, sometimes the homeowner has that impression because the appraiser did the outside inspection without knocking on the door first. The homeowner didn't know they were on the property. Maybe I'm slow (I'm not), but even a 1,000 sf ranch on a slab takes at least 20 minutes to inspect.

What do you think? Can you do a thorough appraisal inspection in 10 minutes or less? How many of our fellow appraisers are doing slip shod inspections? And, how much can a shoddy inspection impact the appraisal and appraisal report?

I usually take at least 30 minutes to inspect, measure and photograph the interior and exterior on a small single story ranch home.

I have been told about the previous appraiser and even given a copy of their appraisal report; all boilerplate and little at that.

 

[sail143]

The best impression you can make on a homeowner, to help them fee they are being treated fairly, is take extra time for the inspection. Half hour is a good minimum for a small house. I also encourage them (within reason) to tell me about their home. Also, be sure to ask about neighborhood sales.

 

[Tony V]

I take my time doing the property observations...along the time frame of Mr. Kinney...

Sail143,
I think that asking about neighborhood sales is a double edged sword....if they aren't happy with the results of the report they may decide that asking that question transcends into.. "and the appraiser must not know the neighborhood, he/she asked about sales in my neighborhood."
just my 0.02

 

[Randolph Kinney]

I ask the homeowner to prepare a list of changes, updates or upgrades, remodels, additions to the improvements for the last 10 years when I call them to set the appointment and to give me that when I arrive at the home.

I also sit down with them to discuss the items they listed to make sure I have the same understanding of what they communicated.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Can you do a thorough appraisal inspection in 10 minutes or less?

Every property is different but bare ground appraisals? 10 min. probably about right. I rely on the soils maps and aerials far more than a ground inspection.

REO properties - Hoarder houses - complex properties - what do you do with them? It takes 30 minutes just to get past the clutter. Some of my farm appraisals run 2 or 3 hours. Recently did I where I actually broke up the inspection over 2 days.

 

[J Grant]

A simple ranch house? 15 minutes or 20 is a stretch. What the heck are you looking at for so long? We are not home inspectors. I might tell the home owner if they are there that the majority of time spent for the appraisal is spent researching and developing the value after the inspection is done, so they don't think the time spent at their home is all I am doing .

 

[ockyappraiser]

a lot depends on how you do the inspection. I have preloaded all public data into the tablet before I arrive, along with much of the description of the subject (when data available). I use a disto to measure, and then drop the room names into the sketch which pulls up the tablet camera to take the pics. I take pics of every room, all sides. On FHA, pics in the attic and crawl. The only reason it would take 30 minutes on a simple ranch style home is if I engage the homeowner in a conversation while moving through the house.

Also. . .I don't use boilerplate comments. I "speak" custom comments in each description field using Dragon.

My point is that comparing the appraiser with a tape, notepad, and a paper file to go through to the appraisers who are completely paperless, using lasers, tablets, voice input, etc is apples and oranges.

 

[panappr]

A simple ranch house? 15 minutes or 20 is a stretch. What the heck are you looking at for so long? We are not home inspectors. I might tell the home owner if they are there that the majority of time spent for the appraisal is spent researching and developing the value after the inspection is done, so they don't think the time spent at their home is all I am doing .

Yesterday.... 795 Sq. Ft. in Venice, CA 2,500 Sq.Ft. Lot, I was at the property for 20 minutes? I guess some appraisers like to jog or sprint, but I'm never in that big of a hurry and never have to wonder....

 

[Vermonter]

When I was in Northern VA a typical cookie cutter townhouse on lockbox took 10 minutes max. Knew the room layout and quality of construction of the entire place once you opened the door. I was also younger and hungrier.

In my neck of VT with an extreme variety of housing and very talkative owners, my minimum inspection time is about 30 minutes on the simplest property. Most go about 40-50 minutes. 1100 sqft ranch on Monday took 90 minutes because the owner started talking about his upcoming hunting trip to Labrador.

I know a lot of people don't like to BS with owners/borrowers, but I get a lot of info that way. Listening more and talking less works very well.