Technology

Where the profession started

Appraisers had typewriters, film cameras, two day film developing, MLS books for comparable sales, paper flood maps, pre-printed appraisal forms and an office telephone. Floor plans had to be drawn by hand and living areas had to be figured with an adding machine. Tax records had to be confirmed at the courthouse and so on… customers had to wait weeks for appraisals in many cases.

We pioneered computer appraising

We have always stayed on the cutting edge and have embraced every real improvement that became available. We were one of the first companies to create appraisals with computers. We literally built our own computer from Texas Instruments components that covered a six foot table! We even had to write our own appraisal software to print reports on tractor feed forms with dot matrix printers.

We were some of the first appraisers to have car telephones, hand held mini-portable phones and remote MLS access via an acoustic coupler from a car phone to an MLS computer called the “silent 700” with its thermal paper printout. We had laser printers as soon as they were available. Even before digital cameras were available, we were using video cameras and video capture software to print still video images on plain paper instead of taping down photos. These days, we have all the latest electronic goodies.

Reports in your inbox in under a minute

The internet allows real estate appraisers to access electronic data bases, digital location & flood maps, on-line cost services and appraisal software upgrades. Internet appraisal delivery is now routine. All you need is an email account and the Adobe Acrobat reader. Your report is sent as a PDF file. This reader is free — if you don’t have it you can download it here.

We utilize Appraiser’s Choice state of the art appraisal software. Complete appraisal reports with digital color photos, encrypted digital signatures, electronic maps, computer generated floor plan sketches and all related addenda can be emailed to you in less than a minute via our wireless broadband connection.

Our most exciting development over the last couple of years is the self-contained mobile office. Time on the road is normally not very productive — especially with today’s traffic problems. With our mobile offices, our appraisers can prepare an appraisal while someone else is driving. The appraiser can even access the internet while the vehicle is moving and obtain all the electronic data components for the report. The appraisal can also be sent to the customer via the internet from our mobile offices — even in a traffic jam fifty miles from the main office!

Even faster turnarounds

The appraiser will be able to dictate an appraisal directly into a computer back at the office using voice recognition software while out in the field. People who need appraisals will be able to receive a completed report in a day or so instead of a week or two!