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How many internet data services do you subscribe to?

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Terrel L. Shields

Elite Member
Gold Supporting Member
Joined
May 2, 2002
Professional Status
Certified General Appraiser
State
Arkansas
I get courthouse data in Arkansas from a private firm charging 10 cents a minute. I get Oklahoma data from two counties for about $30/mo. And I access Quests Ambiance MLS data from NW Arkansas. I could go on the Washington Co. Ar site, and the NEOkla MLS....heaven help me though if I could stand any more problems. 99.999% of the print/access problems I have relate to those 3 sites. Last night I tried for hours to get on the Oklahoma site. I have already had trouble with an earthlink file, so I was afraid it had affected the citrix program that PV Plus runs on (PVPLUS.COM) As soon as I logged in it asks if I am dial up or DSL, then it would do nothing. I assumed the problem was on my side. I ended up 4 hours later with reloading Citrix and uniprint and still no results. Emailed the tech and was not a happy camper.....Call next morning. Sorry, we had to reboot the server when we got to work this morning.......Out all night and it was their fault to begin with. AAARGH!

SAME day. Apprentice (the Ark. county data source) informed me they were going to try to get a fix on the sketches. You download sketches and half of them are a big black ink wasting glob on your print out.... Out of the clear blue while searching the site, it will also randomly print out sheets that obviously were for someone else. I have sheets from the East and central part of the state 200 miles away that just printed out. Sometimes a little menu will pop up and say something about being queued somewhere on laser 1200, etc.

You pay for these sites and they are the only ones that don't work well.

Terrel
 
Terrel,

It's amazing how dependent I've become on internet sources in such a very short time. After reading your article, I had to look through my records to see when my last actual visit to County Records occurred. It was eleven months ago! I use three data subscription services plus membership in the MLS. The county appraiser's website has been improving steadily and is good, but still about 30-60 days behind in their data entry. (Actually, they just "overimproved", in my opinion. All of their data pages are now in "jpg" format and they use a very light green for their building sketches and plat maps which forces me to use up my color print cartridges! Okay, so I'm cheap.) On the plus side, they now have a link to public records so when you look at sales history for a property it's easy to link to deed information. And, their site is free, so I guess I'm lucky after all!

The pay services have been pretty good and for the past year have provided reliable service. I hate paying for anything, but I like being able to have two or three sources confirming data. And it sure is nice to have it at my fingertips instead of travelling 30 miles to the records office and manually going through all those old card files!

Of course, one computer glitch or lightning strike and I'll be sobbing uncontrollably!

8)
 
We use Metroscan, MLS and County Records all online. The good thing is that 4 of the 5 counties that we work in are online with their property information and recording information. They also have some great GIS maps for most of the counties cities that has everything from areial photos, zoning, wetlands, water lines, natural gas lines and pretty much any other information. Makes it real nice in confirming data and sales of comparables. Like most if these services went out for a day or two I would be up s*** creek without a paddle. :evil:
 
Being up the unsanitary tributary without a means of locomotion is a common enough occurance here, too. But for commercial properties, the internet sites are inadequate in descriptions, therefore I still make the court house at least a couple of times a month. In the old days, it was not unusual to go a week with 5 trips to Bentonville, and maybe one or two to Jay, OK. Our lag is about 2 weeks on both sites, but sometimes the assessor has records out that may be delayed by 6 or more weeks.
 
I use three.....MLS, and public records from two counties. The MLS costs approximately $100 a month (monthly + annual dues), both counties are free.
 
I noted in the Park County courthouse that they and many other Colorado counties have free websites with considerable data. I like that. I believe theirs was Parkco.org or something similar.

Ter
 
I have membership in 2 different Realtor MLS systems (some of the local Realtor Boards don't want to share listings or commissions :roll: )
Subscribe to a private data service for appraisers at $50 per county, per month.
And $12 per month to GA Clerk of Court Co-Op to be able to look up deeds online.

With how much I spend for data, I get a big laugh at AMC's that want a report for $120 or even $200. Had a call today, begging me to reduce it just a little. NOPE, I don't reduce for my BEST client, what makes you think you are special? :oops: sorry... started to rant.
 
Mell,

That's OK, you can rant here. It's part of what this site does for us. I just had the opportunity to tell Countrywide - for at least the 10th time - that 'NO, I will recieve my full fee or decline the order. If you pay all of my expenses, I will accept the lower fee. Otherwise, you will get what you pay for and you need to call someone else." and, "It would prove that I'm pretty stupid if I accepted more work which equals more hours for less money. Do you really think the Certified Appraiser you are ordering the Appraisal from is really doing that job? Can't you find the logic in this?"
 
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