I was recently dealing with a situation which required the bank’s appraisal process to occur in a VERY short period of time. We already had our appraisal conducted, but needed the bank to get theirs done (due to the bank’s requirements for a private sale of assets). Here’s the caveat – it needed to be done in less than TWO WEEKS, as my client was moving out of his rented space and was planning on junking half of the equipment if this sale we put together didn’t go through.
Getting a bank to do ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING AT ALL in a period of two weeks is extremely difficult. Banks are big, sloth-like, bureaucratic beasts that never seem to get their acts together when needed most. Knowing this, I engaged the banker I was working with as soon as possible, explaining the situation and indicated just how important speed was in this case. I really emphasized that we had mutually beneficial interests – moving fast would benefit the bank and my client in preserving the opportunity for a sale.
The result? The banker sent out their appraiser within 48 hours to examine the assets. The numbers came back exactly where we needed to be and the sale was accepted. This is a prime example of getting the bank to work on OUR schedule.
