Anyone interested in appraisal forms in Excel?

[HABICHAPPRAISAL]

I was talking to John Cirincione about the technical evolution of the URAR at the Valuation Expo in Las Vegas last week. If you don't know John, he's an appraiser out of Ohio and a great guy to sit down and talk to about technology as he's seen a lot over the years. This spreadsheet post brought me back 25+ years and I thought some of you may find this interesting. There's a lot more to the story but below is the Reader's Digest version.

The URAR prototype was developed in Chicago back in the early 1980s by an MAI using VisiCalc - the first spreadsheet application for PCs. As the appraiser wrestled with the form over time, he would print it out and drive/fax it around the lake to Stevensville, Michigan to Richard Heyn, SRA who had a booming appraisal software company. Rich would have his programmers code up the form in order to render a more professional printout to present to Fannie Mae for consideration.

HI GEORGE,

I see you work for ACI, As a United System appraisal studio user I would like to know what ACI nis going to do with Appraisal Studio first.
Are they gong to bury it and we all have to go to ACI.
I know this purchase just took place, but the powers to be know what there intensions are.
Anyway, I hope ACI does right by the Day One and United Systems customers as we deserve better than what Zaio did. I look at the Zaio offer and found it hard to beleive anyone would get involved with them. As we now know I as right.

Gene Habich
Habich Appraisal Servive
California

 

[HABICHAPPRAISAL]

United Systems

HI GEORGE,

I see you work for ACI. I hope the purchase of US and DO will bring the end of the mistake they made getting involve with ZAIO. I never thought that type program was any good. I hope the appraisers who bought zones will get some compensation.

Anyway, I hope ACI does good by the us if they want the many United System users to either convertto ACI or are they going to keep Appraisal Studio and the support staff intact or is the plan to convert these customers over to the ACI program.

I thnk under the circumstances with the business downturn the powers to be might make it advantages for the old customers to convert. If not many might go to other software companys.
I hope it works out for everyone including the old United people.

Gene Habich
Habich Appraisal Service

 

[George Hatch]

George:

Are you selling the URAR form?

I wouldn't even consider it.

Commerce is serious business. Selling something like this would require being willing to support it, solve problems for customers, constantly improve it, incorporate new features and such. I don't see how an appraisalware program could ever be a one-time transaction. As a group I think appraisers are fairly demanding customers.

There are already a number of well-established companies doing that on a full time basis, and I'm not dumb enough to try and go out and compete for market share with them. I'm an appraiser, not a computer guy. I couldn't even figure out on my own that Apex could export into Excel without Randall holding my hand.

If I do anything with this I'd rather give it away to whomever wants to use it, with the proviso that they accept full responsibility for their usage of it. In return, I'd like some help working out the kinks and figuring out how to make the most of Excel's capabilities. If anyone else, including the appraisalware companies, sees something they like they can just take what they want without feeling compelled to take all of it.

I rather like the general idea of taking an open source approach to forms development, even though I recognize that that approach has its own downsides. As I say, I don't think most appraisers would be interested in hassling with this. I think it is much easier for most people to buy a complete and well-polished appraisalware program, load it in and start using it per the instructions.

For instance, when I load photos into an Excel cell, I have to resize each one of them so they'll fit into the "box". The default way to do this is to do each one individually using the "Format" function so they'll fit the cell. That takes 6 keystrokes per image. My other option (which is how I've been doing it) is to resize all the photos when I load them into their native directory, using my photo software. OTOH, all the appraisalware programs handle that process automatically and save their users the time and effort. That's one of the things you get when you go with the pros. The one program handles all the applications and functions seamlessly, whereas I end up having to use several programs to accomplish the same things. An Excel solution - by itself - could never replace everything the appraisalware programs do.


The main reason I built my own set of forms in the first place was because I always liked the idea of being in complete control of both the layout and the content of my reports. I like being able to build in my own transfers and calculations formulae and to override them at my discretion; and I especially like not being locked into someone else's verbiage on the forms. It's pretty interesting how concise your reports can be if you avoid hardwiring funky and anti-appraiser verbiage onto the form itself. You can focus more on your analyses and conclusions rather than the housekeeping and CYA part of the report. I can write reports that are easier for my clients to read and avoid sticking in sections that they'll automatically skip. It cuts down the page count, too.

Now I'm branching out and toying with importing and aggregating multiple sources of data for the subject and comps, and using that data to autopopulate my reports. After that, I want to use data downloads for my market segments to build analytical tables and graphs to add support for various types of analyses.

One of my problems is that I don't do enough assignments that involve forms to justify spending a whole lot of time to build these functions. If I only do a dozen or so SFRs a year (and often not even that many) it doesn't make much sense for me to get carried away with forms development. OTOH, if a bunch of people used it and a few of them actually participated in building forms and figuring out processes we could probably come up with some interesting solutions. Solutions that the pros - if they wanted to - could adapt or modify at their discretion, thereby benefiting even more appraisers.

 

[Tejus]

Interested in Excel Appraisal Forms?
No. The forms have limited value by themselves.

Interested in an Excel Appraisal System which supports the entire workflow?
Absolutely. The true value is an integrated system which supports your entire workflow and makes you more productive.

Interested in a freeware appraisal system?
No. Freeware requires a commitment from the user community. We don't have that.

Interested in saving money?
Absolutely. I've already saved tens of thousands of dollars and the savings continue to accumulate. This is one of the business decisions which determines who survives the difficult times and who pursues other opportunities.

Interested in sharing ideas?
Absolutely. Over the last several years I've posted functionality and seen the same functionality appear in the other sw packages approx 6-12 mo later. I consider this one of my contributions to the industry.

Interested in using another appraisal sw package?
No. I'm a happy camper.

George, all the issues you've identified have already been addressed. I have a customized Appraisal menu added to the Excel command bar which addresses most of these issues. For example, I can load 20+ photos into my report at the designated locations, with the desired size by selecting a menu item command. When loading by hand, the jpg's are converted to bitmaps and your excel workbook becomes huge after a few photos, I solved this problem long ago. I'm so far ahead with the photo handling that I had to pull back because the Clients couldn't deal with it. By leveraging off one of the most popular systems in the world, I get all kinds of things for free or minimal effort. I have functionality available which other sw systems haven't even considered. Please refer to the earlier post for details.

Fyi, I've included a snapshot of a 1004 p. 1. The appearance is similar or better than the other systems I've evaluated. I can also customize everything on the page. For example, I can highlight anything on the page which I consider important, reviewers love this. Hint: Don't be surprised to see this in your appraisal sw in 6-12 months.

Most users would cry if they saw how much I accomplish with a few macros to tie everything together and create a fully integrated system.

George, if you're interested I might be willing to discuss/disclose some things if we have a non disclosure agreement. We might be able to setup some type of limited usage agreement to address your needs. I'm currently very busy with the boo koo opportunities in these turbulent times so I cannot commit to a time schedule. Let me know if you are interested.

Life is good in Tejas. Livin la vida loca.

bueno suerte.

 

[Vegan702]

Interested in Excel Appraisal Forms?
No. The forms have limited value by themselves.

Interested in an Excel Appraisal System which supports the entire workflow?
Absolutely. The true value is an integrated system which supports your entire workflow and makes you more productive.

Interested in a freeware appraisal system?
No. Freeware requires a commitment from the user community. We don't have that.

Interested in saving money?
Absolutely. I've already saved tens of thousands of dollars and the savings continue to accumulate. This is one of the business decisions which determines who survives the difficult times and who pursues other opportunities.

Interested in sharing ideas?
Absolutely. Over the last several years I've posted functionality and seen the same functionality appear in the other sw packages approx 6-12 mo later. I consider this one of my contributions to the industry.

Interested in using another appraisal sw package?
No. I'm a happy camper.

George, all the issues you've identified have already been addressed. I have a customized Appraisal menu added to the Excel command bar which addresses most of these issues. For example, I can load 20+ photos into my report at the designated locations, with the desired size by selecting a menu item command. When loading by hand, the jpg's are converted to bitmaps and your excel workbook becomes huge after a few photos, I solved this problem long ago. I'm so far ahead with the photo handling that I had to pull back because the Clients couldn't deal with it. By leveraging off one of the most popular systems in the world, I get all kinds of things for free or minimal effort. I have functionality available which other sw systems haven't even considered. Please refer to the earlier post for details.

Fyi, I've included a snapshot of a 1004 p. 1. The appearance is similar or better than the other systems I've evaluated. I can also customize everything on the page. For example, I can highlight anything on the page which I consider important, reviewers love this. Hint: Don't be surprised to see this in your appraisal sw in 6-12 months.

Most users would cry if they saw how much I accomplish with a few macros to tie everything together and create a fully integrated system.

George, if you're interested I might be willing to discuss/disclose some things if we have a non disclosure agreement. We might be able to setup some type of limited usage agreement to address your needs. I'm currently very busy with the boo koo opportunities in these turbulent times so I cannot commit to a time schedule. Let me know if you are interested.

Life is good in Tejas. Livin la vida loca.

bueno suerte.

Looks as good as both ACI and Wintotal, I use both.

Great work!

 

[EDWARD BERRY]

caps are for my old eyes.

HELLO MR G.O.

I CAN REMEMBER READING YOUR DAD'S ARTICLES IN S&L PUBLICATION.

AS MENTIONED EARLIER I "CLONED" THE ERC FORM ON A TRS-80 USING VISICAL. IT WOULD BE WONDER TO SEE THE OLD FILES YOU TALK ABOUT.

FOR YEARS NOW, I HAVE PESTERED YOU ABOUT THE IMPORT OF DATA FROM A MLS. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.

YES, I KNOW THERE ARE LEGIONS OF MLS PROGRAM, BUT MOST CAN EXPORT A READABLE (STANDARD)FILE.

A PROGRAMMER SAID IF HE HAD YOUR "HOOKS" IT WOULD BE EAST TO WRITE A PROGRAM TO IMPORT THE DATA INTO ACI. THAT MAY OR NOT BE TRUE--BUT THE FIRST COMPANY THAT HAS IMPORT AVAILABLE IS THE ONE THAT MANY WILL USE.

WE HAD THIS YEARS AGO IN THE SFR PROGRAM IN DOS.

SURELY IT COULD BE DONE TODAY.

I DO USE ACI, BECAUSE ONCE ONE GETS IT WORKING, IT STAYS WORKING AND NO COSTLY YEARLY FEES.

MOST RESPECTFULLY,
ARKIE ED

 

[cpmiller3]

Hi. I'm a newbie to AF. Has anybody experimented with creating an automated narrative report using MS Word 2007? I know about At Value, Value Tech and others, but has anybody wrestled with a home built template and source document? I'm looking for an instructional book for morons like me. Can't find one. I need to be walked through the step-by-step process of creating a large automated document, inputting basic descriptive data in a source document, building the report section by section, and then compiling it. I don't think that Word (by itself) will do that easily. I read in a Que book that the compilation part becomes unstable. Anyway, glad to have discovered AF.

 

[Tejus]

My first attempt to create an appraisal system several years ago was based on MS Word. I quickly realized there are numerous limitations on the MS Word functionality, especially when dealing with data.

After further investigation, I moved everything to MS Excel. I've since developed a fully integrated system which supports my entire work flow. It supports residential, commercial and whatever types of reports. I'm a happy camper.

bueno suerte.

 

[Couch Potato]

Alan,
When working with Word did you try using linked spread sheets from Excel? I can't help but think the two programs working together would lead to the best system. Using a combination of mail-merge template and linked spreadsheet calculations, I think a very flexible design would be possible.

 

[cpmiller3]

Alan, thanks for your reply. Are you saying that you created a narrative appraisal template using Excel? I'm not referring to a form report for residential. I'm asking about an automated narrative report generator that will accommodate a 75-page commercial appraisal. Now I'm really curious...but I'm still ignorant as dirt.