[Thomas N. Morgan]

Those of you who appraise properties in remote, outlying areas are well aware that a la mode's Internet mapping facility does not work well under those cicrcmtances. That is because lots of addresses still have not been geo-coded in the US Census Bureay TIGER MAPS.

The mapping facility states that in such cases, one can move the Location arrows by hand, but better yet, get the coordinates ( Latitude and Longitude) for subject and comps. and enter them as waypoints in your GPS. Then, enter the Lats. & Longs. in a la mode's mapping facility in the spaces provided for that.

Don't have a GPS? Consider DeLorme's 3-D Topo Maps. As you move the cursor along one of their topo maps, the coordinates show up in a little area in the lower right of the screen. I found through testing that those coordinates are precisely accurate. Once entered in a la mode's mapping facility, the subject and comps will show up in their correct locations on your comparable sales map.

This method works quite well for me.

Comments or questions?

[George Hatch]

I've used DeLorme's topomap program for several years. It really helps to have reference to a topo map when you're describing the subject and comparables, especially in areas with view amenities and elevation changes.

[Richard Carlsen]

Good points Thomas.

I bought a GPS about 3 years ago for fishing and now wonder how I got along up here in the hinterland without it. I use it for work, fishing, snowshoeing. Handy as heck.

Although I have the Topo Quads, my map of choice is DeLormes Street Atlas USA. I can type in an address and it will take the cursor there. One of the options is to put a coordinate on the map. I will typically print the map out and put it in the work file. On difficult or out of the way places, I put the coordinates in the GPS as a waypoint before leaving the house. If there are some odd turns and twists in the road to get to the house, I just put a coordinate map note on those and plug them into my GPS. Then I drive to the turns.

One of the things that I'm amazed at is the accuracy of this method. I was doing a property one time (new construction) with a address assigned. I plugged in the address in DeLorme, took the coordinates from the map and made them a waypoint. The road in this area was a long, fairly straight one with lots of pine trees. When I go to my waypoint, I was 30 feet from the small service drive that went back into the woods. Driving back, there was the building site. No address, markers, flags etc on the road. Just that small drive.

My GPS is fairly large by some standards. It wedges smartly between the dash and the windshield with the power cord coming over the top of the instrument panel. I can easily read it as I drive.