ACI or AlaMode?

[al002kim]

I'm currently ACI user for 4 years and my annual "membership" is due in a couple of weeks. They are charging $545 plus map $99.

I'm not very pleased using their software, I was indirectly "forced" to use ACI as some of the former clients (not anymore) required to send them .ACI file. The software is not very appraiser "on the run" friendly, I used to have Clickforms (Bradford) prior ACI and I can assure Clickforms was very fast and easy to use.

Now I have received a mailer from aLaMode Wintotal+Xsites and their contents seem very tempting, such as DaVinci app on iPhone/iPad, free sketch, MAPPING, personal website, etc.

I wanted to know from the friends who are using WinTotal or like me, former ACI users to WinTotal, how do you like it? And is it worth of the money, as far as I'm concerned, WinTotal offers more suff than ACI and seems cheaper in long way.

Thanks for your comments in advance!

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

18+ years using Alamode. I like it and the company supports appraisers. I haven't had issues with the software in over ten years.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

From my experience I am not a fan of either, but without a doubt Alamode is better and has a lot more bells and whistles....

Clickforms is fine too, but this is probably the last year I will have it. It simply costs more and does more than i need. I can get by cheaper. We quit secondary market entirely in 09...haven't looked back and haven't lost work significantly. 10% of our work was 30% of our headaches and 99% of our stips.

 

[Joyce Potts]

I'm currently ACI user for 4 years and my annual "membership" is due in a couple of weeks. They are charging $545 plus map $99.

I'm not very pleased using their software, I was indirectly "forced" to use ACI as some of the former clients (not anymore) required to send them .ACI file. The software is not very appraiser "on the run" friendly, I used to have Clickforms (Bradford) prior ACI and I can assure Clickforms was very fast and easy to use.

Now I have received a mailer from aLaMode Wintotal+Xsites and their contents seem very tempting, such as DaVinci app on iPhone/iPad, free sketch, MAPPING, personal website, etc.

I wanted to know from the friends who are using WinTotal or like me, former ACI users to WinTotal, how do you like it? And is it worth of the money, as far as I'm concerned, WinTotal offers more suff than ACI and seems cheaper in long way.

Thanks for your comments in advance!

No doubt your phone rang within minutes of uploading your post.

 

[Howard Weeks]

Neither. Clickforms or NCV.

 

[al002kim]

No doubt your phone rang within minutes of uploading your post.

And why is that?

 

[Michigan CG]

Dave Biggers and Alamode have always heavily supported the independent appraiser in many ways.

I will always be an alamode user unless I quit doing residential work.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

I'm not very pleased using their software, I was indirectly "forced" to use ACI as some of the former clients (not anymore) required to send them .ACI file.

This is the part that always gets me. Any time a lender/client demands the use of a certain software, a red flag should go up. Is the software appraiser's choice or lender's choice? Is there any question who this product serves? The same goes for certain portals like Appraisalport.

 

[Mr Rex]

 

[hastalavista]

I originally used ACI more than 10-years ago. Then, when my firm grew to the point we were networked together, ACI did not have the platform and WinTotal did, so I switched to WinTotal. I was with them for about 7-years.

I recently (2009) switched back to ACI.

So, I've been a client of both over a non-trivial period of time.

Both have some unique advantages over the other and both have their shortfalls. However, overall, I'd rate WinTotal better and, if I could re-do my 2009 decision, I would have stuck with WinTotal. My significnat concern is "stability". I happen to use a lot of graphs in my reports. ACI has a ".zoo" format that is supposed to handle large files. It isn't that great and I and my staff have had files corrupted (permanently lost) right at the end of the report writing process (like, when saving the file after applying the signature).

My renewal came up this December and I did not have enough time to look at returning to Wintotal, so I renewed. I am going to look at Wintotal next year.

Having said all of the above, ACI has a new feature called "SMART"; I have not investigated it yet (it is a statistical data-analysis tool, from what I understand) but depending on what SMART does, it could sway my decision to stay with ACI. And, if ACI stabilized their program to handle larger data files, that would sway my decision as well.

Good luck in your decision.