Desktop Appraisals have helped modernize and streamline the loan process for borrowers and lending institutions alike. But what are desktop appraisals, who uses them, and how can they be supported?
Desktop appraisals are appraisals in which the appraiser does not perform an OnSite Inspection. They rely typically on public records such as tax histories, property photos, publicly available floorplans, gross living area calculations, and multiple listing services.
Utilizing advanced and often proprietary software and algorithms, appraisers can utilize this information to complete an appraisal without ever leaving their desk—thus the name, desktop appraisal.
Notably, most industry concerns about the accuracy and risk involved in conducting desktop appraisals vanished during COVID-19, as desktop appraisals showed a nearly identical risk performance compared to traditional appraisals.
With traditional, in-person and on-site appraisals, the appraiser physically visits the property to complete an inspection, collect data, take photos, etc. With desktop appraisals, public records provide a lot of the relevant information.
How TrendSource Property Condition Inspections Support Desktop Appraisals
Yet, oftentimes desktop appraisals require in-field work. Measurements need to be taken, perhaps, to reconcile a contradiction in square footage, or photos and sketches are needed. To send an appraiser to do this work would defeat the purpose of desktop appraisals—their efficiency, in terms of cost and time.
Instead, appraisers rely on TrendSource Property Condition Inspections. In Property Condition Inspections, TrendSource Inspectors directly visit the property to be appraised and complete the field work required for an appraiser to complete a desktop appraisal.
The in-field data is reviewed by TrendSource’s Quality Assurance team and submitted to the appraiser, who can rest assured the information contained within is accurate and reliable.
With its database of the best Independent Inspectors in the business and a QA team that nothing gets by, TrendSource is the obvious choice to support desktop appraisals through Property Condition Inspections.
