I just switched to Clickforms. Here is the good, the bad and the ugly

[Fargo1]

I wanted to leave Corelogic, So I just made the switch to Clickforms. I had used NCVForms in the past which looks pretty similar on the surface, so I was expecting a similar user experience. Unfortunately I have found that although Clickforms is more polished, NCVForms was actually better in a lot of ways. I miss JD. He really did strive to make things work better for the appraiser. Even if the software had enough bugs of its own. Anyway, onto my initial impressions about Clickforms.

From my 15 day trial period, I knew that Clickforms did not render and scale property on my 4K monitor. After completing my first appraisal, this turns out to bother me more than I expected. Total works much better on a 4K monitor. SFREP is the clear leader here though. Appraise-It Pro is just beautiful on a 4k monitor. Everyone other software looks old and dated next to Appraise-it Pro.

Clickforms is very simple to use. Some of that simplicity is due to differences in design philosophy and work flow. Some of it is due to the lack of user customization. Things I took for granted in Total simply aren't there in Clickforms. Mostly small items, like being able to link fields together in a common response. Most things just feel old and archaic, but seem to function ok if I can get used to doing things in a different way. Since I'm still learning the software, I won't harp to much on missing features just yet. To be fair, some features in Total aren't needed and others are just done in a different way.

What maybe surprises me the most is that the UAD review is not catching some inconstencies in the report. Things like differences in age, room count, etc are not caught by the reviewer. How many years have we been writing UAD reports and Clickforms still isn't catching all the errors? It really doesn't install confidence in me.

Overall, I am unsure if I will stick with Clickforms or not. Tech support has been fantastic and responsive to my concerns. So I will grant them that. The company has been great to work with. But the software really feels dated. SFREP feels like a more modern version, but is also missing features. I was fortunate enough to get signed up with Clickforms during a Cyber Monday sale where they had the Gold version on sale for 60% off and the Standard version at 50% off. It was a great deal at $300 or $440. So I jumped on board. But honestly, my initial impression leaves me feeling that this is all this software is really worth. I would not renew at $590 or $1100 for either package. So I might continue for the next year and hope my perspective changes as I get to know the software, but its hard to seriously consider Clickforms as my future vender when I can have more features for half the price by sticking with Total. Its a high price to pay just to get away from CoreLogic. I'll see what the future brings. Maybe they have something in the works for an update.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

I think I hear the music.

Wah wah wah...........

 

[Fargo1]

Yeah, I was maybe a bit harsh. Its always difficult to change software. So much of my frustration is from lack of familiarity of how things work in Clickforms. I've only completed one report, so I expect things to get better. Who knows, I might just find out that it is indeed superior. But so far, I've just been a little underwhelmed for software that is so expensive.

I will stand by what I said that the software is rather dated feeling next to newer software. I think the software was extremely well written in its time, but its really due for an update. As far as my comments about price. I'll back off on that comment a little. From my initial impression, I still think Clickforms is over priced, but maybe not as much as i said. From my experience, its seems like Clickforms should be about 25% cheaper to really be competitive on a feature for feature basis.

I'll try to update this thread again in a few months after I've gotten to know the software better. I just wanted to get some initial thoughts out there for anyone else looking to change.

 

[Flakey]

Thanks for making the time and effort. This is useful and relevant.

 

[glenn walker]

I wanted to leave Corelogic, So I just made the switch to Clickforms. I had used NCVForms in the past which looks pretty similar on the surface, so I was expecting a similar user experience. Unfortunately I have found that although Clickforms is more polished, NCVForms was actually better in a lot of ways. I miss JD. He really did strive to make things work better for the appraiser. Even if the software had enough bugs of its own. Anyway, onto my initial impressions about Clickforms.

From my 15 day trial period, I knew that Clickforms did not render and scale property on my 4K monitor. After completing my first appraisal, this turns out to bother me more than I expected. Total works much better on a 4K monitor. SFREP is the clear leader here though. Appraise-It Pro is just beautiful on a 4k monitor. Everyone other software looks old and dated next to Appraise-it Pro.

Clickforms is very simple to use. Some of that simplicity is due to differences in design philosophy and work flow. Some of it is due to the lack of user customization. Things I took for granted in Total simply aren't there in Clickforms. Mostly small items, like being able to link fields together in a common response. Most things just feel old and archaic, but seem to function ok if I can get used to doing things in a different way. Since I'm still learning the software, I won't harp to much on missing features just yet. To be fair, some features in Total aren't needed and others are just done in a different way.

What maybe surprises me the most is that the UAD review is not catching some inconstencies in the report. Things like differences in age, room count, etc are not caught by the reviewer. How many years have we been writing UAD reports and Clickforms still isn't catching all the errors? It really doesn't install confidence in me.

Overall, I am unsure if I will stick with Clickforms or not. Tech support has been fantastic and responsive to my concerns. So I will grant them that. The company has been great to work with. But the software really feels dated. SFREP feels like a more modern version, but is also missing features. I was fortunate enough to get signed up with Clickforms during a Cyber Monday sale where they had the Gold version on sale for 60% off and the Standard version at 50% off. It was a great deal at $300 or $440. So I jumped on board. But honestly, my initial impression leaves me feeling that this is all this software is really worth. I would not renew at $590 or $1100 for either package. So I might continue for the next year and hope my perspective changes as I get to know the software, but its hard to seriously consider Clickforms as my future vender when I can have more features for half the price by sticking with Total. Its a high price to pay just to get away from CoreLogic. I'll see what the future brings. Maybe they have something in the works for an update.

I have no idea what you are talking about ? Click form UAD checker catches , ages, room count and most other errors BUT it does it when you are going through the deliver UAD and that's were you make the corrections. After quite a few years of UAD the appraiser should also be pre-programed to know 90% of the typical errors . Anyway like all new things it will take you at least a few months to learn all the features and as you go along, you will be on auto pilot. If not sure call their tech support they are really good.

 

[Fargo1]

I have no idea what you are talking about ? Click form UAD checker catches , ages, room count and most other errors BUT it does it when you are going through the deliver UAD and that's were you make the corrections. After quite a few years of UAD the appraiser should also be pre-programed to know 90% of the typical errors . Anyway like all new things it will take you at least a few months to learn all the features and as you go along, you will be on auto pilot. If not sure call their tech support they are really good.

You are absolutely correct that it will take a few months of actual use to get to know the software. I'm sure some of the things I am looking for will be found. So at this point I don't want to discourage anyone from looking into Clickforms. It does seem to be very solid and runs much faster and smoother than Total. Its also a pleasure to work on software that fits all of your comments into the allows space so you can read them. Unlike Total which just puts little green arrows on the side of the form to inform you that there is more text in the form you can't read. THAT is frustrating. After 10 years they have no desire to fix it. So Total has its issues as well. I was just hoping that Clickforms would be perfect.

I did notice the UAD reviewer that runs when you send the report does a better review than the standard reviewer. Id on't know why they don't allow you to run the UAD reviewer before sending. I like to lock my report when I sign. So if the UAD reviewer finds and error I have to return to the report unlock it, fix the errors and then go back and sign and review it again. Its a poorly designed process. It also didn't catch all the errors for me.

Maybe some time with Tech support will help. They certainly have been more than helpful from my experience. I think it is the exceptional tech support and training the Clickforms provides that you are paying for with the higher fees.

Anyway thank you for the response.

 

[JTip]

two tips:

(Ctrl =) this will copy the subject amenity (ie,DT 1 Ranch, Q4, Fee Simple, etc) across all the comparables (once each address is in).

Play around with Automatic Adjustments. Once all fields are in, select AA and fill in your adjustment values (dont forget to check the line item box). Round up or down for conforming numbers. BEFORE running UAD, UNCHECK all the boxes in the AA form as it will readjust the adjustments. This alone saves me 15-20 minutes.

-----

Tech support provides instant gratification; I always get a human to help when needed.

 

[CANative]

It's like the difference between PC and a Mac.

 

[Fargo1]

Tech support provides instant gratification; I always get a human to help when needed.

I have been very impressed with tech support and the guidance I was given to help get started. Clickforms even had someone map out my MLS Import for me and they called me and showed me how to do it if I need to make more changes later. Alamode also has this feature, but they just tell you to watch the video. So as far as service goes, Clickforms is top notch.

It's like the difference between PC and a Mac.

Very much like the difference between a Mac and a PC. I just thought I would be able to transition quicker than I did. I still hope that once I learn the software it will prove to be superior. I also hope to see them update the software and not just move everything to the cloud in the future.

 

[CANative]

It does a lot of stuff that is not obvious at first. My dad was typing appraisal and then using an old word processor and dot matrix printer when my brother upgraded to "Appraisers Tool Box" by Bradford which was the precursor of ClickForms in the early 90's I think. I've tried some of the others but they feel "clunky" and they all sort of look the same.

I think only the UAD addendum goes to and additional comment section when the cell is full. But the other Comment pages expand and flow. I usually type in Word and then paste it into a comment page which automatically expands. It took Bradford years and years to put a word processor function in the software.