To go EDI or not to go EDI....

[JonB]

I was wondering if you y'all could tell me about any positives or negatives that you have experienced in switching over you transmitting of your reports from faxing and mailing to emailing? I thinking about making the switch but I want to make sure I make an educated decision. What I have read so far its not too cheap? What kind of costs have you run into? Is it worth it?

Thanks

 

[larryhaskell]

If your software has EDI capabilities and you send them in the PDF format its free. I would suggest DSL service over the traditional dial-up modem. If you go through a system like AppraisalPort for lenders like WaMu and soon BofA you will have to buy the Mercury software and it costs $5 every every time you send a report. WaMu's fees are higher than typical for our area so its okay. Even at the same fee I believe $5 per report is cheaper than making several copies and hand delivering. Faxing is probably cheaper but typically its necessary to send original copies anyway. Once you go EDI you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

[Anonymous]

In order to send reports EDI I needed a digital camera, so I bought one $400.00. My software wouldn't handle the digital pictures, software upgrade $ 200.00, My computer wouldn't handle the software upgrades, New computer, $800.00, My printer wouldn't work with my new computer, new printer $ 250.00. My client wanted electronic signature, $ 150.00, the electranic signature doesn't work...

 

[Anonymous]

In order to send reports EDI I needed a digital camera, so I bought one $400.00. My software wouldn't handle the digital pictures, software upgrade $ 200.00, My computer wouldn't handle the software upgrades, New computer, $800.00, My printer wouldn't work with my new computer, new printer $ 250.00. My client wanted electronic signature, $ 150.00, the electranic signature doesn't work...

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

When you use PDF format (i.e. Adobe acrobat) make sure you "lock" your files so the lender can only print the report, as opposed to making changes for themselvs. I have not sent a single report hard copy or fax in over two years. High speed cable or DAL is a must as the reports will take a long time to transmit over a normal dial up connection. I have one client that uses appraisal port and all reports are in AI Ready formatt, I thought I had heard of people using appraisal port to deliver reports in PDF format but I do not know if that is possible. Go to EDI you will never look back!

 

[BigBlueGA]

If somebody charged you $150.00 for an electronic signature, I think I need to get out of the appraisal business and get into the electronic signature business...

 

[TC]

Don't even think twice, make the switch. I have been to the post office only once since I switched to 100% EDI in January. The time and money you save will pay back in 3 months, depending on your volume. I gave one of my color printers to my best client in February, I hardly ever use my other one. My Fed-Ex number is a distant memory. Switch today.

TC

 

[Richard Carlsen]

RUN! DON'T WALK TO GO ELECTRONIC MAILING....

First of all the saving over Priority Mail for one year should pay for Acrobat Write ($450 or so), digital camera ($250 or so) and any software you may need to handle the pictures. If you go with a la mode, you get QuickPics (I think that is where it came from) which takes care of downloading the photos, resizing them and putting them in the file you want.

Last year, about 25% of my reports went e-mail. Today it is about 60%. It is not only faster, cheaper and saves about 2 days in the whole process; you never, ever just miss the mailman. It provides you with the ability to really service your client. It is hard for a LO to complain about delivery if he can't receive the report e-mail. I had a lender call on a LAPP for VA this morning. They needed one additional form that I had omitted. I went into the data, did the calculations, filled in the form, printed it .pdf and e-mailed it out. Within 45 minutes, I got a message that the lender had opened the report and I also got a nice message back thanking me for the fast service.

Going e-mail is not an option. It is a question of doing it today or tomorrow. But do it you will. Better to learn now and be ahead of the curve than trying to catch up.

BTW, you do not have to have DSL or cable or broadband to do it. I often transmit my reports on my personal home phone line at 26K. It takes about 8 to 15 minutes depending on how big the report is but it can be done. I was informed today that DSL is now available to me and they are just trying to figure out how much to charge me for the install, etc. Bet it equals a boat payment for someone.

 

[BigBlueGA]

Our office went to EDI a short while back.. luckily we were already using digital cameras. Our only costs were Adobe Acrobat for something like $250 (on special from United Systems) and some el cheapo scanners for $75 a piece plus a $15 rebate.

I absolutely love it. We're on DSL anyways, so it only takes a few seconds to send a report. You don't have to spend your time making copies or collating pages, not to mention filling out FedEx forms, etc. The ink, paper, and postage costs it has saved us have been tremendous. Also, we send ours out through Microsoft Outlook, so when somebody asks when something was sent, all I have to do is click on the sent mail folder and I have a copy there that I can forward to them in a split second and all the information pertaining to the date and time that it was sent and who it was sent to. Plus I think it makes the clients a lot happier to get the equivalent of an original within seconds of it being completed. There are still a couple of our regular clients that aren't up to snuff on the EDI stuff.. I'm working on them slowly but surely..

- Brandon "Digital Mailman" Boyce

 

[Bemis Pownall]

repeat after me

"double my earnings and half my costs"

hello?!