I recommend trialing SFREP and Bradford as well, I think those two will stay around.
They don't import spreadsheets. Everytime I've asked Bradford over the past 18+ years or so, he shows no interest. He has always been unwilling to fix anything I have ever asked for from the get-go.
At least back when Biggers ran Alamode, their tech support would fix things and add features I requested - not that I ever requested that much. But, I could tell, they fixed critical things after I called them. I was impressed by that. Not with Bradford, who I think only accepts input from dummies he has personal relationships with, e.g., I won't mention the names. Of course, Bradford is a hell of a lot smaller than Alamode - and he can't add a feature for just one appraiser. And that brings me to my point: the kind of features I need are only worth adding by the largest vendor, Alamode.
The history of Bradford is that he has been one of the major implementers of the MISMO/XML standard, and has been on a number of MISMO/XML related panels. He probes and experiments with his software, but often backs off, i.e., doesn't follow through. Likely, he operates on a tight budget and must be conservative, avoiding overextension. For some reason, he runs his appraisal software business in the very expensive Silicon Valley, which arguably was never a good idea. Alamode operates in Oklahoma, which traditionally, and I am sure still has, depressed salaries for software engineers, about half of what you have in Silicon Valley. He often finds 2-3 people who are talented to do the programming, but has a hard time holding on to them for any length of time. It is a matter of luck. If I were him, I would have moved the company back to Texas. Someplace like Spring, Texas (The Woodlands) would have been fantastic.
Also, he appears to build his company around himself for better or for worse. 10 years ago he was talking about maybe selling his company. So, my take, is that he is trying to put window dressing on his company. Sell it, then retire - just like Biggers did with Alamode.
Interestingly, he appears to be overextending himself with NightHawk, which I know little to nothing about, except from his ads or somewhat superficial presentations. However, based on my imperfect understanding of the range of competence among current residential appraisers, I don't think the time has come when a product like NightHawk, if it turns out to be what is promised, has much of a chance of succeeding. On his side, he has some healthy relationships with the GSEs. However, I am sure the other software vendors likely have as good or better relationships. It is just that, and I am pretty sure, there are too few appraisers competent in building statistical and data mining models. In fact, I am the only one I know of. It's years off. Indeed, only likely to happen if they stop using traditional appraisers and just open the field to statisticians, somehow or another. And, I do believe, that is the direction the GSEs are taking. Let me guess, - that is where NightHawk winds up!
