ValueTech vs. @Value

[Calvin Cummings]

If anybody has purchased or thoroughly evaluated both of these narrative report generator software packages, could you please post the Pros and Cons of each.

I am NOT interested in the DCF capability of @Value as that is covered by ARGUS. However, any real-world experience -- good and bad -- with these report generator portion of these packages would be much appreciated.

I have a small company running a peer-to-peer network and I am NOT a database wizard.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Calvin Cummings, MAI
Cummings Appraisals
Pasadena, CA

 

[Calvin Cummings]

Nobody Familar with @Value AND ValueTech?

Sorry to bump this post, but I was trying to see again if anybody out there is really familiar with BOTH of these programs and could provide some Pros and Cons of each.

Thanks,

Calvin Cummings, MAI

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

@value can supply a volumenus report with too much "white" on the paper. I personally found it to be difficult to learn, a pain in the butt and hate the invoice printing as the last page instead of the first. There is no substitute for creating your own templates in WordPerfect unless you wish to create them in the inferior Word, which is what @Value does. My 40 pg reports are 65-80 pg in @value.

 

[Kent Faver]

Calvin - I posted in another thread I just took the ValueTech demo - and am not familiar with @value. IMO ValueTech is much more name recognized - and I've have a hard time believing @Value is faster, more advanced or better - but, again I'm ignorant.

I also have Argus, but honestly I don't use it much (ouch on that bill) -- so a DCF program that might be more easily incorporated is intriguing - but, like you, I have clients that require Argus.

 

[Calvin Cummings]

Terry & Kent,

Thank you both for your posts! I appreciate it a lot!

Anybody else out there that has used (or at least demo'd) both programs?

Any other feedback is much appreciated!

BTW, it's not the capital outlay that has me so concerned. In the end, I know the time to learn and set up is going to be the biggest factor and I would just like to use the best, easiest-to-use program between these two: @Value and/or ValueTech.

Thanks again. Great community support here.

Calvin Cummings, MAI

 

[Scott Lanz]

Calvin,

I have not used valuetech, only @value. I found it fairly easy to use and the new version is better than the last. I think it's more efficient than my old system which was Wordperfect, but not sure how it stacks up to valuetech side by side. @value has a free demo, not sure about valuetech's site.

I do think the narrative software will eventually overtake the older system of wordperfect/word alone templates as they progress. I use Datacomp for comparable database and @value I think is working on a interface to import the selected sales from Datacomp into their adjustment grids instead of their own database.

Unfortunately, I spend 9 years building fantastic reports in Wordperfect with automated tables, charts, high-res printing for photos, etc. only to find out that nobody but me really cared. Timing and fee still seem to drive business so I switched to the narrative that would help on the timing.

@value is a pretty inexpensive purchase if you end up scrapping it after a month or so. The tech support is pretty good and they have been more than fair with the cost of upgrades.

Sorry I couldn't answer your question directly.

Scott J. Lanz

 

[Calvin Cummings]

@Value vs. ValueTech: Pros & cons

Hi Scott!

Hey, thanks for your detailed reply. I really appreciate the feedback a lot.

Here are some of the differences that seem to exist between these two programs:

DATABASE ENGINE

ValueTech I believe uses a Microsoft SQL database. When I first used this program, the SQL database seemed to slow my computer down significantly, and I had a lot of trouble with it. I've had a couple programs that have used this SQL database now, and both of them I've had troubles with.

@Value uses a standard Microsoft Access database. I haven't used this program yet, but I'm hoping it might actually be better than the database engine that runs the ValueTech software.

INTEGRATION STRUCTURE

ValueTech I believe has you pull up several different Word and Excel documents (along with graphics -- photos, maps, etc.) and then merges them all into one Word document which then stands on its own.

@Value has all of the Word documents "embedded" in Excel, so, in essence, each template is a standalone system. Once the merge is done, the Word document is NOT stand alone, meaning it is inextricably linked to the underlying Excel sheets and database forms. That is why @Value has their own PDF writer, so you can PDF the final document for sharing with others. However, what that means is that you cannot really share the final Word document AS a Word document, unless whomever you share it with also has the @Value software. This is a feature of this program I don't know if I would ultimately like or not. It seems restrictive. However, for my purposes as a single-person shop (at this point at least). It seems like it would work okay.

DATABASE CUSTOMIZATION

ValueTech has a VERY powerful "Designer" feature that allows one to totally redesign the database if one wants to. It allows total customization of the forms, etc. However, it seems like one needs to be very technically savvy in order to use this advanced functionality.

NOTE: I actually worked at PropertyFirst.com and then Loopnet, both of whom had the exclusive Appraisal Institute Commercial Database (AICD) "initiative" before Loopnet sold it to Marshall & Swift (which has subsequently abandoned the project). One of my first responsibilities was cleaning up the AICD database standards and putting it all in written form. One of the problems with the AICD data standards is the trade-off between covering all of the many, many fields required to capture sales, rental and income and expense data for over 100 property types and subtypes, and the resulting complexity that level of detail causes one in actually implementing a system like this.

In ValueTech, I delved into what it would take to "pare down" the number of fields in the data entry screens using their Designer feature for the main property types I encounter most often. The work it would take to customize the data entry screens seemed excessive to the point I never did it and, hence, never really implemented their software (which I paid $1,500 for).

@Value, on the other hand, does not appear to have such a powerful, all-encompassing, similar "Designer" functionality as ValueTech. However, what it DOES have is a simple list of all of the database elements and a checkbox next to each that will easily hide them from the data entry screens. This may not be as powerful as ValueTech's customization solution, but it seemed like it would be a LOT easier to go through the fields for the four or five property types that represent the bulk of my work and help me make data entry a lot easier and quicker, without all the extra clutter on the screens with useless fields which would remain blank because I would never want or need to capture that data. This feature alone seems to make this program more worthwhile for me than ValueTech's software.

DATA IMPORT

ValueTech, to the best of my recollection, does not allow importing of data from, say, CoStar COMPS, which we use a LOT here in Los Angeles County.

@Value apparently allows you to save your CoStar COMPS data as CSV files which can then easily be imported into the @Value database engine.

EXCEL VALUATION SHEETS

ValueTech has nice sheets, but they don't seem to have the same level of quick, easy customizability that @Value's have, especially in terms of adding new comps from the database, or inserting new row and column data.

@Value makes it very easy to add comps on the fly, and they also have some neat features to hide and/or add new columns and rows for data you want to customize your work with.

CALCULATIONS

@Value's database has a LOT of built-in calculations in it out of the box.

I can't remember if ValueTech does or not. I'm sure you can configure it that way; however, that's probably extra work on the front end.

DCF/UNIT SALES ANALYSES

@Value seems to have some nice DCF software for not a lot extra. Also unit sales for subdivision work. Of course, a lot the lenders require ARGUS; however, many do not. I've shied away from that work since going out on my own due to the cost of ARGUS. However, with relatively inexpensive DCF software like @Value's, maybe I can now go after more of this type of larger, multi-tenant work?

APPRAISAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Neither program seems to have office appraisal management functionality like Appraiser's Paradise, eTrac, etc.; however, I am wondering if some hooks couldn't be made to access either version to accomplish this. I started off using alamode's invoicing/accounts receivables module to track my work when I started out. At that point, I was doing exclusively apartment work on forms. Now, I've moved away from that and will probably be usin QuickBooks for that once I get it set up for this year (on my to-do list). It seems a shame to have to reenter all that information twice.

Anyway, that's my "read" on both programs. Again, if any one else uses one or the other (or BOTH?), I would still love to hear some more input to help me in my ultimate decision on which to fully implement.

Thanks for all your help.

Calvin Cummings, MAI

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

I suppose that the database feature is useful, but in my case, I personally do too many styles of appraisals narrative to use @Value well. A sub uses it and did a residential report on acreage recently that took up 90 some pages. By contrast my template would have been perhaps 30-32 pages.
In WP I am able to create tables that calculate spreadsheet style and they are far superior (imho) to monkeying back and forth with Excel/Word. Few times do I need intensive analysis and I find that Word is and has always been far more difficult to edit codes, change fonts that conflict, etc.

I break a report into a Exhibit subdocument, the approaches (tables from 3 - 6 comps for sales approch), Cost app has a land grid plus a table designed for plugging in Means or NBC costs, and the Income app. has a NOI statement as a table which calculates, or if I use GIM's, I switch styles. The summary and cert pages are the 3rd leg of the triangle. Once created (last to first) I can then generate a table of contents and print to Adobe or Nitro for a "final" report

 

[LorenzoBrown]

Jus wanted to know what the verdict was on valutech appraisal writing software. We found it to be unusable and their support to be friendly but behind the curve.

Wanted 2 know if anyone else had found out differently ?
Right now, our copy of valutech is sitting in the digital trashcan.

LBjr

 

[Calvin Cummings]

ValueTech vs. @Value vs. Appraisers Paradise

Lorenzo,

I ultimately decided to purchase @Value for numerous reasons enumerated in more detail above.

What did you finally go with -- Appraisers Paradise or @Value.

Could you share pros and cons of Appraisers Paradise here? I never did get a full demo on it due to their lack of a trial.

Thanks,

Calvin Cummings, MAI
Pasadena, CA