Home Appraiser Referral

The Importance of Receiving a Home Appraiser Referral

In the good old days, when business conditions were less volatile and there were fewer appraisers around, an experienced or certified appraiser didn’t have to worry too much about marketing his or her services. Receiving a home appraiser referral from someone was only marginally important because the phone was ringing with new assignments all day long.

With today’s competitive environment, however, the importance of receiving a home appraiser referral can no longer be ignored. Many appraisers don’t solicit a home appraiser referral because they think they lack the sales skills for it. In truth, receiving a home appraiser referral has very little to do with your sales skills. Receiving a home appraiser referral doesn’t require any special sales training, it only requires that you contact more people. If nobody knows who you are and what you do, how are they supposed to refer your appraisal services to anyone?

For example, receiving a home appraiser referral means you have to get on lenders’ lists. Contact as many mortgage lenders in your geographic area as you can. If you are looking to break into appraising for specific types of properties (such as hospitals or condominiums), get in touch with realtors who deal in them. If you want to expand into litigation appraising, you need to contact as many lawyers as you can and let them know that your services are available to their clients.

Receiving a home appraiser referral also means you have to directly ask your referral sources to refer you to the right people. Your referral sources can be just about anyone: real estate agents, mortgage brokers, loan offices, other appraisers, family, friends, neighbours, and even people you meet in the grocery store. But how many members of your family actually know that receiving a home appraiser referral from them is important to you? Though the range of possible referral sources is wide, the best referral sources are still people who regularly work with people in need of appraisals. That is why the best people to give a home appraiser referral on your behalf are usually real estate agents, other appraisers, mortgage brokers, and loan officers.

When receiving a home appraiser referral, always remember to thank your source for the favour. You can thank your source by phone, email, or a letter. This is will make it much more likely that they will refer your name again in the future.