Do I NEED An Appraisal Web Site?

Real estate appraisers today work in a very competitive market, but the Internet can provide an excellent marketing edge to appraisers that want to be successful on the web.  Success in real estate hinges on how well your business is known and how well you can respond to your client's questions. An online presence will build your brand and your appraisal business at the same time.

Attract Non-Lender Business: A huge proportion of homebuyers use the internet to search for a home. It is estimated that up to 80% of homebuyers and sellers use the Internet for research and to search for home listings and real estate services.   The Internet offers the convenience that busy people need. If a homeowner needs a "Pre-Listing" appraisal, they'll often use their their lunch hour on the internet to search for you. Your website will be available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

A Web Site As The Hub of Your Business: First and foremost, an appraisal practice is a business – a service business, more precisely.

Managing turn times, efficient workflow, and constant status feedback to demanding clients is a bear, even in a one-man shop. Throw in the complexities of additional staff and it’s nearly impossible to meet today’s responsiveness and service standards without solid tools.   That's where a web site can help! . . .

If you work on your real estate marketing, your real estate website will always work for you. Taking the time and effort to market and organize your workflow will mean huge results for your appraisal business.  Now is the time to start!

Take Control: If you're like ME, you don't want to have to learn about another technology, write content, make all kinds of design decisions, etc. etc..  You just want an easy to set-up and easy to maintain sytem that will solve your communication, marketing, and collaboration issues.

I've chosen the a la mode XSite as the HUB of my business on the Internet.  I've tried several other solutions but I've found that a package that's integrated with my appraisal software was critical to efficiently managing my business, marketing, and communication efforts.

But Isn't It Just A "Template"?  - Yeah, sort of, but a template on "steroids"!  here's a short list of reasons why this template package works for me . . .

1. Online / Integrated Ordering:  The online XSite ordering system permeates my entire appraisal workflow from start to finish . . .  receiving the order, starting the appraisal report, keeping clients updated, and eventually delivering the report.  That level of integration with appraisal desktop software is very expensive to attain for a small appraisal office.
2. Customization / Branding:  A la mode often emphasizes how FAST one can get an Xsite up and running . . .and that's TRUE!  However, what I like is how EASILY an appraiser can customize their site to "Individualize" it.   People that don't understand XSites will often refer to them as templates, leaving the impression that they are cookie-cutter tombstone-pages that HAVE to look like every other site.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  XSites have the TOOLS (color, graphics, fonts, hyperlinks, and enhanced navigation) to enable each Xsite owner to express their individuality.
3. Newsletters (XSellerate) : I've always recognized this feature - tool as being a POWERFUL marketing application but was frustrated with either the interface or issues with setting up the contacts/groups.  With recent remodeling of the XSellerate interface ALL appraisers should revisit this application.  My preference is to "brand" my Newsletter or marketing ads with the same look and feel (fonts, colors, writing style) as my Xsite.
4. Education / Content:  Why does an appraiser / appraisal company WANT an XSite?  Many just want an "Order Machine".  I've always felt that I wanted my Xsite to provide "Help".  A place for consumers, clients, and other appraisers to come for answers to their questions.    While we can ALWAYS do a better job, my GOAL is to help visitors find helpful documents, videos, and even how to find other appraisers.   A la mode has provided great content in the form of  pre-formatted text, news feeds, and videos.  THEN . . .they provide the tools for us to add and insert our own.
5. File/Graphics Management: The Xsite Wizard is legendary for its ease of uploading custom graphics and a wide variety of file types.  I use this not just for graphics that I add to my site, but also to store pdfs and other documents that others (and I) may want to reference in the future.   I hate to store a link to a government site, only to find out that they've removed a document (prior year's USPAP for example).
6. Credit Card Payments:  While there ARE other alternatives to receiving online payments, I feel that MORE consumers and clients know, trust, and rely on traditional credit card processing than any other method.  A la mode and their merchant account partner(s) made application process as simple as possible.  I offer credit card options (education) several places on my Xsite and I always mention it to clients and customers when a COD payment is requested.
7. Remote/Mobile Options:  I only use the "Mobile Tools" occasionally but I feel that they will become a larger and larger part of my workflow in the future.  Right now I primarily use the mobile tools while at conventions or seminars from my PDA.  I have my Xsite ordering set up to send a message to my cell phone anytime a new order comes in.  With that notification I KNOW to check in with the office to see if I need immediate follow-up.
8. Property Presentation:  This is a tool (like XSellerate) that I hear VERY little talked about on the forums yet should be, IMHO.  Like XSellerate, I got off to a very rocky start with the Property Presentation on two FSBO assignments that I had last year and then the interface remained broken for "appraisers" for months.  It's working NOW and I'll AGAIN be promoting it to FSBO clients.  Recently group of appraisers were discussing a non-lending appraisal package/form.  I think that the Property Presentation tool, in conjunction with a non-lending appraisal report, could be an excellent form of new business.
9. Daily Status Summary - Xsite Scheduling:  This gets back to #1 (Online Ordering Workflow) but mainly has to do with keeping ME on task.  Every morning I get a Daily Status Summary of open reports.  That reminds me to update my clients and what m To-Do-List should be for today.  When I enter my appointments in WinTOTAL I push the data Outlook and my Xsite Scheduler.  With BOTH of those systems in place . . . .there's NO WAY that I should ever be late or miss an appointment again!
10. Integrated Contacts: Having my WinTOTAL and Xsite contacts "integrated" is ESSENTIAL to my workflow and marketing.  Working with XSellerate really brings that home when trying to work with classes or groups of contacts for a mass emailing project.   Also, since implementing my "Appraisal News for Mortgage Professionals" newsletter I've seen the power of adding "Lead Generation" fields on my Xsite pages.   When people sign-up for my newsletters or just "Got A Question?"  . . . .I add their contact information to my database WITH the proper category.  I'm just at the baby-stage of this, but I can SEE how an expert could really work the system to their advantage.