A desktop inspection (sometimes called a desktop evaluation) is a property valuation completed remotely — without an appraiser physically walking the property — using detailed photos, videos, comparable sales data, and your scope of work. Instead of scheduling an in-person visit and waiting on an appraiser's availability, the evaluation can move as soon as your documentation is submitted.

A traditional, in-person appraisal requires scheduling around an appraiser's calendar, a physical site visit, and often a multi-day (or multi-week) turnaround before you get a number back. A desktop inspection uses the same core inputs — property condition, comps, scope of work — but sources them from what you submit, so the evaluation isn't bottlenecked by a calendar.

Speed is often the difference between winning and losing a deal in Milwaukee's fix-and-flip market. In our short-close process, the evaluation is one of the first things ordered once your application, repair estimate, and property photos/videos are received — and it can't move without complete documentation from you. A faster evaluation method means a faster path to your loan commitment.

Since a desktop inspection relies entirely on what you submit, the quality of your documentation directly affects how quickly (and accurately) your property gets evaluated. That means:

• Clear photos and videos of every room, the exterior, mechanicals, and neighboring homes
• A Scope of Work (SOW) that "tells the story" of the project — tied directly to what's shown in your photos and videos
• Pre-approved borrowers can reference RHM's Property Documentation Guidelines and the SOW worksheet template inside the Borrower Portal for exact requirements
  

• Walk every room — don't skip closets, basements, or mechanical spaces
• Shoot video, not just stills, so condition is easy to assess at a glance
• Photograph the exterior and neighboring properties, not just the subject home
• Make sure your repair estimate lines up with what your photos/videos show — mismatches are one of the most common causes of delay
• Be conservative in your own ARV estimate going in; expect the third-party number to differ, and don't let a gap between the two catch you off guard

Once your evaluation is back, our team finalizes the numbers and sends your final loan commitment for signature. From there, it's on to title, insurance, and closing — all outlined in our short-close timeline.

A fast evaluation only means something if it's also an accurate one. That's the part of the desktop inspection process we take the most seriously and the results speak for themselves: our borrowers sell, on average, 5% above the third-party ARV built from their photos, videos, and scope of work. That's not a coincidence. It reflects the care we put into evaluating every deal at the time of the loan.

We also don't treat that ARV as a single, static number. We use the same documentation to build a real-time selling analysis that looks 4-6 months out, so the number we give you reflects where the market is likely to be when you're ready to sell, not just where it is the day your loan closes.

Here's the honest truth about why that matters to us: this is as much about protecting you, the borrower, as it is about protecting REIA Hard Money. At the end of the day, we only need to be paid in full for the costs tied to your loan. Everything above that is yours. The more accurate your evaluation is up front, the better positioned you are to maximize your profit on exit and the more our businesses grow together, deal after deal.

The best way to keep your desktop inspection from becoming a bottleneck is to have your photos, video, and repair estimate ready before you submit your application. If you're not yet pre-approved, start here — pre-approving before you have a deal under contract also waives your $1,000 Account Setup Fee.