Appraisal Scoop

Consumer AVM Uses "Owner Information" - More or Less Accurate?

According to an Inman News article today [ Zillow hands data keys to homeowners ] "Real estate Web site Zillow.com is allowing homeowners across the United States to update information about their homes currently displayed at the national site. "  Zillow is a consumer "Automated Valuation Model" (AVM) that assists visitors to check their home's values against others in their market.

"Homeowners previously were able to make changes to their home's record, but could not share these changes with the public. Now, after an on-line process to verify whether a person is the actual homeowner, owners can correct information that may be out of date such as square footage and remodeling projects that could impact their home's value."

Zillow's intent is to engage consumers, giving homeowners a more active role in the site's real estate content.   The company feels that this latest feature will help build a larger, "richer" database of real estate information.

However, as anyone in the real estate professions (appraisers, sales agents, brokers, assessors) can tell you, the homeowner is probably the least reliable source of data when it comes to size, quality, condition, or even location!  I'm sure we've all seen the "Your House As Seen By . . ." cartoons and photos?

The problem with "Homeowner" data:

• Consumers have no training in measuring a home by any industry standard.
• As an owner, they lose objectivity in assessing the home's quality and condition.
• There's no means of verifying the data provided by the owner as accurate.
• Owners may intentionally falsify data to influence the AVM results.
• The database integrity becomes inconsistent when thousands or millions of different un-trained "homeowners" are supplying the data input.

Would ANY appraiser or assessment database consider using "homeowner" input? 

Can you imagine an assessment (AVM) jurisdiction allowing homeowners to modify their data?

Are They Insane??!!!

Author: Brian J. Davis, RAA - Brian Davis & Associates - Brian has over 22 years of appraisal experience in Central, IL and hosts the Appraisal Scoop blog and the WinTOTAL Users Group an email forum for appraisers

Freddie Mac Provides Guidance on Electronic Transmission of Appraisal Reports

According to an article posted on the Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professional (ICAP) web site, on August 31st, Freddie Mac made the following change to its seller requirements regarding Faxing and other electronic transmission of appraisal and inspection reports.

Section 44.21 has been revised to provide additional guidance regarding the receipt of appraisal and inspection reports via fax transmission or other means of electronic transmission.

"Effective immediately, a Seller must ensure that the appraiser’s systems, processes and procedures for creating, signing, transmitting, sending, storing and maintaining electronic or fax copies of appraisal or inspection reports are safe, sound and secure."

*Disclaimer* DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE A UMPC WHILE DRIVING. Ever! Do as I say, not as I do!

TabletKiosk eo + StreetDeck = Car UMPC!

That's the way that the UltraMobileGeek blog by ThoughtFix begins this very thought provoking review of StreetDeck, a product which he says . . . " may well be the "be all and end all" of Car PC interfaces."

In his blog post he does a short review of StreetDeck (and video - see link at the bottom of this article) that he's installed on a tabletkiosk eo and mounted in his vehicle.

In his video his demonstrates just a few of the many features that are available in this Car-PC interface . . . . READ ON!

UMPC USB Keyboard For Under $20

My tabletkiosk eo UMPC, like many Ultra Mobile PCs does not come with a keyboard, and the OEM Bluetooth keyboard is device is $99 if you can find one.

Randy Garrett, Apex Software CEO gave me a great tip on an alternative device for +/-$20!  The USB keyboard is by Logitech and is designed for use with the PlayStation®2. Featuring a familiar keyboard layout, 8-foot USB cable, and quiet, full-size keys, it's full-featured enough to use comfortably and compact enough to sit easily on your lap or tabletop. 

I found one on Amazon for $9.99 plus shipping from EB Games.  Total cost should be about $16.00.

According to comments on Amazon, the keyboard does not have a standard numeric keypad, which is a major space saver in the design.  The number and function keys are "half height" which may make them a bit tricky to use for touch-typists.  Overall it looks like its got a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Electronic Signature Security On Appraisals - ApproveIt® Desktop

In my previous blog post "Digital Security on Appraisals - Fighting Fraud" I looked at two different appraisal security solutions.  Appraisal Matrix, LLC sells a digital barcode software package that is able to barcode / encrypt individual appraisals.  a la mode, inc's answer to document security (currently available for mortgage professionals) is SureDocs. Click here to see how it works.

Both of those options seem rather involved to me?  I thought there might be something else available that would fill the bill for appraisers.  What I found was ApproveIt® Desktop, Silanis’ electronic signature software developed for commonly used desktop document formats.

ApproveIt Desktop is designed for offline signing processes and internal, ad-hoc operational applications. Supported applications include Microsoft Word®, Excel®, Adobe PDF™, Adobe eForms and IBM Workplace Forms™.

I downloaded their full working copy demonstration software to give it a spin. Read on . . .

Mobile Appraiser Technology - UMPC Part Four - "Pulling It All Together"

For years appraisers have been searching for the perfect combination of hardware and software to make their "Field Data Collection" more efficient.  You've tried a Windows CE HPC (clamshell) device, moved on to a Pocket PC, a laptop, and may now be considering a Tablet PC or Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC).  You've probably also got a long history of trial-and-error experiences with data collection and sketching software!

As I talk with appraisers that have used data collection devices in the field, I hear the the full spectrum of experiences.    Some have been very successful in incorporating mobile technology into their work flow while others have had false-start after false-start. 

I believe that the reason that we have not seen mobile technology become part of the "Appraiser's DNA" is that we haven't achieved that sweet spot blend of hardware and software.  That point where appraisers adopt mobile data collection devices in large numbers (like we saw with digital photography). 

What I'm discovering is that mobile appraisers that have successfully adopted the Pocket PC technology are somewhat reluctant to switch platforms, and I can understand that.  After all, the PDA's BIG advantage is that it's SMALL!   It also has data collection software designed specifically for it, that integrates back into the desktop appraisal form filling software.  That's a great combination of hardware and software for an appraiser!

On the other hand, newer UMPCs run Windows XP for Tablets, have larger screens (for sketching), and are capable of using full "desktop" style programs that we're used to.

What if I told you that you could have the BEST of BOTH worlds?   Read on . . .

Appraising Your Business: How to Succeed by Setting Yourself Apart

Dave Biggers, a la mode's Chairman, wrote an article last year in Working RE magazine which they've reproduced with the magazine's permission.

It's called Appraising your Business: How to Succeed by Setting Yourself Apart, and it may be the most important article you read this year. Here's a snippet:

Why do your clients use you at all? How do they differentiate you from your competition? Who is your competition? And remember that "perception is reality" because that’s where marketing can fix things. Your clients' perceptions of you and your competition are the reality, whether you like them or not. They are the only perceptions that matter.

Click here for the full article.

N.A.D.A. Appraisal Guides Launches Newly Enhanced Manufactured Housing Appraisal Guide CD-ROM

COSTA MESA, Calif., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Editors of the N.A.D.A. Manufactured Housing Appraisal Guide today announced the launch of the newly enhanced N.A.D.A. Manufactured Housing Appraisal Guide CD-ROM, Version 2.0. According to company experts, Version 2.0 features some significant improvements to help industry professionals value manufactured homes quicker and easier.

Following is a list of just some of these enhancements.

• Single Screen Application
• Printable Option Checklist
• Repair/Replacement Estimator
• Easy Saved File Changes
• On-Screen Running Totals
• Archiving Updates
• Summary Page Report
• Quick Reference to Identifying Codes

Mobile Appraiser Technology - Ultra Mobile PC Part Three - "Keeping In Synch"

In my earlier posts "UMPC "First Impressions" and "Getting it set up" I discussed my initial impressions about the tabletkiosk eo™ UMPC v7110 and some software installation topics as I began integrating a ultra mobile PC into my appraisal and data collection work flow.

Now that I've got my tablet PC connected to the Internet and to my office peer-to-peer network via WiFi, I'm able to start installing appraisal and productivity software.  For me that means applications like MS Office 2003, Apex MSTT v3, and a la mode Aurora.

Since the tabletkiosk eo™ UMPC v7110 does not have a CD drive one has to come up with other ways to install software applications.  In the case of Apex MSTT, I was able to download that directly from their web site, but MS Office and WinTOTAL are a bit large for that method.

So how do I load my software CD onto my tablet PC?  The answer is simple. Find a desktop or laptop computer on your network and make it's CD/DVD drive "shareable" across the network.  Then put your CD into the drive, and click on [Add New Software] in the tablet's Windows Control Panel, browsing to the shared drive.  Once you find the set-up file on the CD, the software will install just like the drive was in your tablet.

How do I keep my tablet and office computer files in sync? The eo™ UMPC v7110 "Looks" like a big PDA but it's not.  It's a for-real computer running the Tablet version of Windows XP.  That means that it's not going to be able to use ActiveSync to keep your file folders in sync.

So NOW WHAT?   Read on . . .

Regressing Into The Future? - Using Excel Regression Tools

This article is adapted from Microsoft Office Excel 2003 Inside Out by Craig Stinson and Mark Dodge. Click here for the full article.

The concept of regression might sound strange because the term is normally associated with movement backward, whereas in the world of statistics, regression is often used to predict the future. Simply put, regression is a statistical technique that finds a mathematical expression that best describes a set of data.

Often businesses try to predict the future using sales and percent-of-sales projections based on history. A simple percent-of-sales technique identifies assets and liabilities that vary along with sales, determines the proportion of each, and assigns them percentages. Although using percent-of-sales forecasting is often sufficient for slow or steady short-term growth, the technique loses accuracy as growth accelerates.

Regression analysis uses more sophisticated equations to analyze larger sets of data and translates them into coordinates on a line or curve. In the not-so-distant past, regression analysis was not widely used because of the large volume of calculations involved. Since spreadsheet applications, such as Excel, began offering built-in regression functions, the use of regression analysis has become more widespread.

Read on . .