How Long And Why Does It Matter

[Terrel L. Shields]

I see all the form guys and gals seemingly desperate to shave a few, literally, seconds off keypunch time by using data services. I see software vendors touting cloud based comps, auto fill features gobbling up dubious data found on the MLS, or maybe Realist?

Just how long does it take you to key punch? I have not used appraisal form software in the past 4 years. In Word Perfect I have templates which I built. One for farms, one for rural houses, one for city houses, etc. So I find a comp in the MLS, pull up the county assessor field card, and create my own comp as a one to three page file, give it a name like CITY_123Any street.wpd and file it in a subdirectory by year and county. With my own photo, I spend far more time driving to it than I do key punching in the comp. And many comps take additional time to get info from the agent.

So I guess what I am asking is what is the big deal about using a keypunch service, auto fill or data service like this Total comp database data mined from you and your peers? You have to read and digest that, too. It isn't error free. And from comments and my experince I am not sure I trust my peers judgment any more than I do a Realtors. It all needs vetted. I spent 3 hours writing a 53 page report with all new comps the other day. With inspection, driving comps, and research it was about 8 hours work. I'm cool with that for a reasonable fee. No, I won't do it for $100, but $50/hr+? Will buying these extra time saves really help the long term bottom line? Surprise me.

 

[Meandering]

I wonder why everyone thinks only one software company is collecting their data.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

You still have to qualify and vet data before using it. Having a program automatically load data once you put it into the program it expects, you might as well DIY.

 

[miktay]

When I saw the title, I first thought it was Digger...

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

The faster the better, by any and all means.
Because, this is a drag race.

Pick your self out some good running shoes and a nice dress for the race.

 

[TRESinc]

i tried datamaster once years ago and found it took me just as long, and in some cases longer, to verify the data it gave me vs typing it in myself. i suppose if you only type with two fingers it may be a time saver but it wasn't for me.

 

[Overimprovement]

If I can save 15 minutes per report, that equates to about 6-7 hours per month. That is enough time savings to do another complete report or more. At the nationwide C&R rate of $400 for a residential report, that is a car payment, or any # of other bill payments each month.

So the quest to save a few minutes here and there is worthwhile in my opinion. But I am an efficiency fanatic. Less time spent working is more time spent doing all the things we work for.

All that said, I agree the time it would take to vet data collected by someone else at best balances out the time savings. Its not that I don't trust other appraisers in my market, its just that its MY name going on the report, not theirs, so I want to be right by MY definition of what right means.

The concept IS appealing, so I understand the attraction as a possible time saver. Unlike the commercial world, in the residential world, there are far more potential sales from which to choose, and for all intents and purposes, their shelf life is only a year (rural and unique properties notwithstanding). On the commercial side, you may reuse a particular comp many times. Not so in the res. world, at least in my market, which is very heterogeneous.

 

[Joe Flacco]

I use datamaster but not because it saves time but because it is convenient. It probably saves 5 - 10 minutes max. I often have to fix the structure size above and below grade, room counts, and parking spaces.

 

[Joe Flacco]

The verify the data argument doesn't hold because you tell datamaster where to pull the data from. It's not like it pulls the data from some random place. You set it up to get the data from the place you would normally get the data from. I have to fix the structure size often just because the assessors are not consistent.

 

[Tom Woolford]

I have trouble relinquishing any part of the process. I guess I just don't trust anyone: I know what I want and having to correct or redo something I've already paid for rubs me the wrong way. I'm a fast typist despite the Arthritis, so I'll just do it myself. I trust me (but only to a point )