Camille McDonald & Associates: On The Cutting Edge of Appraisal Technology
At Camille McDonald & Associates, we have a confession to make: We always have the latest geeky gadgets. From smart phones, to laptops, GPS, you name it. Call us geeks. Call us nerds. Call us what you will, but by all means, call us at (228) 596-1799 for appraisal orders in Harrison County! Why? We're glad you asked.
If you asked a typical group of appraisers, most would agree that appraising is more complicated than it used to be. We offer the highest quality appraisals, and cutting corners would compromise everything we stand for. So, we've found that the best place to save time is in our our workflow. The appraisers that have regularly adapted to new technology have been the ones able to bring their customers more accurate reports, better customer service and faster turnaround times.
Innovating the Ordering Experience
In the past, a great deal of orders were delivered via fax and were confirmed with phone calls once we got back to the office. Often, in this scenario, it might of taken quite a while to hear back to see if the order could be taken. These days, when orders are entered on this website, we receive an e-mail on our phones. We often 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.
At Camille McDonald & Associates we understand it's all about "cycle time". We aim to reduce waiting between communications since the speed at which we get things done directly effects your bottom-line. This website definitely reduces cycle time for us and our clients by enhancing our communications.
Camille McDonald & Associates believes in working smarter
Gathering the data for an appraisal is a demanding process. We spend quite a bit of time collecting both specific information about the subject property and general data about the local market and developing trends. Camille McDonald & Associates takes advantage of technology to close the gap once again.
Instead of using paper forms and pencils and then re-keying all the information back at the office, don't be surprised to see us with a tablet PC or collecting data using an application written for our phones that even lets us sketch a floorplan right on the spot. Rather than using that clumsy outdated tape measure, we're seeing that more appraisers are starting to use laser measuring devices that are quicker, more accurate, and can get into places that normal tape measures have always had problems with.
We combine all of these different technologies to ensure that your final report is comprehensive and conclusive, requiring fewer call-backs and revisions. A real money saver for busy appraisal clients.
Appraisal Report Delivery
The majority of our appraisals are delivered through e-mail as PDF documents. Most of our clients prefer e-mail because we're all accustomed to getting attachments like PDFs in our mail. It's a lot faster than the old days when everything was on paper. But, we've even been able to innovate report delivery with this website.
Everyone knows how frustrating it is to lose a file. 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. Whenever we send an appraisal, 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 anything happens to 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.
Camille McDonald & Associates enhances its appraisal records by using Digital Workfiles
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 employed to demonstrate the condition of a property on the inspection date. Therefore, appraisers are required by law to keep their reports for 5 years in case any disputes or other matters arise regarding the property.
Here again, Camille McDonald & Associates leverages our embracing of technology to improve service. By storing every aspect of the appraisal - notes, sketches, supporting documentation and calculations - along with the appraisal electronically, we're able to retrieve that document at any time and recall exactly what that assignment was about.
We just wanted to give you a little bit of insight into how we use our technology daily. Using the right software, services, gadgets and gizmos allows the appraiser to collect the appraisal data to finish the report faster and more accurately than previously possible.
|