Commercial Narrative Report Software

[Ken B]

I transitioned into commercial work earlier this year and all my reports are now narrative MS Word and Excel products. Being accustomed to more intelligent form-based products which would auto-fill common elements within the report, I find the redundancy of repeating common data multiple times within the report to be excruciatingly tedious.

The CG says "This is how we do it", so this is how it is done. Has anybody used any MS Word based commercial appraisal software which will improve my efficiency and reduce the potential for typographical errors and inconsistencies within a report?

"Report Builder" seems to fit the bill, but I got a frown when I mentioned it. Anybody have any comments on this or any other commercial narrative software which uses MS based software? I would purchase something for my personal use if the price was not prohibitive for a single user and if the end product was consistent with the office standard format. As all reports are saved on a common server for potential use by any other appraiser in a similar assignment, the end report would have be a MS Word 2003 file.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Michigan CG]

We have a program called @Value which has a report writing feature but we do not use it, we have the program for the data base.

I have seen other commercial reports using one of these types of programs and there are always things that do not fit. A lot of the "canned" stuff just isn't appropriate. Makes for some pretty sloppy reports. If you have a newer computer like I do (Dell Dimension C521) you can train your computer to talk to it...very cool feature.

Yup, most CG's do say "This is how we do it".

 

[seattle98116]

There is an MAI/CCIM appraiser in IL that created a commercial narrative software package called Appraisers Paradise. I haven't used it, but have heard good things from other forums. John H. Urubek, MAI, CCIM is the appraiser/developer. I had him as an instructor for some CE classes (and no, he didn't mention or try and sell his software to the class).

http://www.appraisersparadise.com/

 

[Ken B]

There is an MAI/CCIM appraiser in IL that created a commercial narrative software package called Appraisers Paradise. I haven't used it, but have heard good things from other forums. John H. Urubek, MAI, CCIM is the appraiser/developer. I had him as an instructor for some CE classes (and no, he didn't mention or try and sell his software to the class).

http://www.appraisersparadise.com/

I looked at the site and software description. Anybody have any experience with this software and its compatibility with Word?

 

[Tejus]

Residential vs Commercial vs Form Filling vs Narrative vs Whatever, it's all the same and can be handled with the same tools.

Setup your system so you can plug-n-play whatever you need for the current assignment. Think of it as a tinker toy set which can be put together and is simple enough for a child (or an experienced appraiser) to use.

Word may be usable as your main delivery platform, but there are so many Word limitations and Excel advantages that I dropped Word and have moved exclusively to Excel for everything. This also simplifies/solves many system and maintenance headaches.

Most appraisers are still thinking muy pequeno, necessita pensar muy grande.

I'm a happy camper.

buenos suerto y buenos noches.

 

[hastalavista]

There is an MAI/CCIM appraiser in IL that created a commercial narrative software package called Appraisers Paradise. I haven't used it, but have heard good things from other forums. John H. Urubek, MAI, CCIM is the appraiser/developer. I had him as an instructor for some CE classes (and no, he didn't mention or try and sell his software to the class).

http://www.appraisersparadise.com/

I met John and his partner at a conference once and did a walk-through on the product and gave it a test run; be advised that I am a residential appraiser looking to transition into commercial, but also wanted the ability to complete a narrative for my litigation work.

I thought it was a pretty good program in terms of ease of use. I'm still planning on making the move into commercial, and when I do, Appraisers Paradise will be a product I'm going to re-evaluate.

(I believe I test ran this about 1.5 years ago).

 

[Wayne Tomlinson]

I just received the latest on-line Appraisal Buzz.
There is an interview with a software developer there who claims to have a new narrative software for commercial uses.

They provide the following link to view the program

www.appraisewrite.com.

I haven't looked at it.

As in an affidavite; Further I sayeth not

Wayne Tomlinson

 

[Ken B]

Thanks Wayne, that one looks interesting.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Has anybody used any MS Word based commercial appraisal software which will improve my efficiency and reduce the potential for typographical errors and inconsistencies within a report?
Ugh.. Word..another almost good program from Billy Gates. The difference between good and almost good is the difference between lightning and lightning bug, unfortunately. I use Word Perfect and 'do' my own narrative templates. You can embed quick and simple spreadsheets into WP or import quattro pro and BTW, you can 'save' the final product in .doc or .rtf files...(.rtf is better)

Using keyboard merges, templates, etc., you can create your own templates. It takes time. You have to be patient. The appeal of @value, etc. is to cut down the learning curve. For me, I find it to be more intuitive alright, but the end product seems to always just be a little 'off' - a hanging page, a miscued margin and no quick fix....reveal codes in Word Perfect makes it much easier.

BTW, if you do not create your own, you are destined to suffer high prices, annual 'update' fees, service calls...and boy, you have to use it or you just blew a bundle to sit on the shelf and ignore. If I do my own templates, at least I am not out an arm and leg and most times when the programs upgrade, if I choose to upgrade my templates will upgrade too...

 

[Michigan CG]

Mr. Shields has pretty much hit it. Over time you will develop your own templates, specific to your type of appraising and reporting. Once you do an apartment complex, there is your template for other apartment assignments.

There are also locational specific properties. An example is farm land in Iowa. We have the CSR standard here that is in our farm appraisal template. No other states (that I know) of use the CSR numbers.

And, as he said, there always seems to be something "missing" or a "little off" using these programs, not that I haven't seen really good work from them, but I have also seen really sloppy work from them.