At Kairos Appraisal, we take pride in providing an efficient and streamlined appraisal process that benefits our borrowers, our lending partners, and most importantly our appraisers. We talk a lot about our real estate appraisal tools, but one thing we don’t talk about enough is how we integrate technology to support our appraisers. At Kairos Appraisal, we provide a suite of tools for residential appraisers that improve efficiency and provide solutions to the challenges of today’s lending environment.
One of the biggest hurdles we have to overcome in the appraisal process is shortening turn times for the appraisal report. As lenders continue to work toward streamlining the mortgage process by offering a faster and more efficient experience, we are helping the appraisal industry follow suit.
At Kairos Appraisal, we are constantly exploring solutions to provide an optimal customer experience, without placing more pressure on our appraisers. We support the hard work of our appraisers and have systems in place to help them prosper. Plus, we cover all technology and platform fees so that appraisers can utilize our resources without additional costs to their bottom line.
See below for how our real estate appraisal tools are helping appraisers complete more assignments while giving them time back in their day to focus on what they do best.
Scheduling Tools for Residential Appraisers
The appraisal industry averages about one and a half days to schedule a typical inspection. However, with Kairos’ scheduling technology, a vast majority of our inspections get scheduled and confirmed within one hour of the appraiser accepting the assignment.
The days of ignored calls, awkward voicemail messages, and playing phone tag are over. Kairos’ advanced scheduling process takes ownership of communication between all parties and streamlines it. In fact, appraisers can schedule their inspections without ever having to initiate a phone call or follow up with the borrower.
Of course, our appraisers are more than welcome to reach out to the point of contact. However, our scheduling tool has been used thousands of times by hundreds of appraisers and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. Kairos designed this tool to ensure that the point of contact accommodates the appraiser’s schedule first. This makes our appraisers more productive and ensures that assignments are more convenient and beneficial.
This ease of scheduling not only saves the appraiser a lot of time and hassle, but it also provides a much better experience for the borrower and their real estate professionals.
No-Bidding Appraisal Process
Asking for bids from multiple appraisers is a common practice for most AMCs, but not at Kairos. Many appraisers have complained about the bidding process for years. We responded by adjusting our assignment process, developing advanced analytics, and combining technologies to benefit the appraiser before they even begin the assignment.
Thanks to our advanced analytics and appraisal software tools, we now track local appraisal fees and provide basic property information, including photos. This way the appraiser can more easily determine if the estimated fee is sufficient. Appraisers can now accept or decline the project from their desktop—or from their phone, iPad, or tablet when they are in the field—without diving into multiple sources to determine competency.
We’re trying to help appraisers save time, reduce stress, and say yes to more work. By providing realistic fees upfront, coupled with subject property details, appraisers can accept more business more easily. They also get more generous fees than ever.
Borrower Education
An educated and prepared borrower can help the appraiser shave days off the appraisal process.
An unprepared and uninformed borrower, on the other hand, can cost the appraiser a lot of time. It can result in multiple trips to the property, unnecessary questions or complaints, and delays in completing the inspection. That’s why Kairos makes sure the borrower knows exactly what‘s needed from them before, during, and after the appraisal process.
It’s important to understand that many borrowers have never experienced the appraisal process before. Kairos makes sure borrowers know what to expect so they can better accommodate the appraiser at the time of inspection.
As the AMC, we take the time to educate the borrower from the beginning. By the time the appraiser arrives at the property, they can do their job more efficiently, and avoid those potential delays and added costs.
Fair Compensation
Our reporting software tracks the performance metrics of each appraiser. We leverage these analytics with average rates based on location, experience, turn times, and more to ensure that each appraiser is compensated fairly, and is competent and qualified for the assignment.
Kairos also pays all technology and platform fees. These fees range from $12 to over $60 depending on the lender, platform, and location. We proudly cover these fees as a direct benefit to our appraisers, who are the lifeblood of our appraisal business.
At Kairos, we also reward our appraisers with performance bonuses, which many AMCs don’t offer. Those appraisers who consistently deliver quality reports on time, without needed revisions and with excellent communication throughout the process, reap big rewards.
We Keep You Busy
The appraisers who work with Kairos keep working. Thanks to our internal selection process and data analytics, we get qualified appraisers in rotation and keep their schedules full. Read more about how technology improves the home appraisal process here.
We place a lot of importance on workload management and rotation compliance. Our technology and tools for residential appraisers allow us to pick the perfect appraiser for each assignment. This is based on their experience, proximity to the subject property, workload, availability, and many other factors. This ensures that our appraisers stay busy, and that our borrowers get the appraiser who is the best fit for their valuation.
At Kairos, we take excellent care of our appraisers and always support their success. Our advanced appraiser software tools and analytics can streamline the many steps involved in the real estate appraisal process. That means our appraisers can focus their time and expertise in the most efficient ways possible.
