Introduction to the a la mode Labs and Research Fellows

David Braun, Research Fellow

We're excited to be part of a new research and development initiative that is unprecedented in the residential appraisal industry.

The a la mode Labs initiative not only includes employees of a la mode , but a team of independent researchers who are knowledgeable in the field of real property appraising and related technologies. This team is made of four members, whom you'll meet in the coming weeks. I'm writing to explain why we accepted a position on this research and development team as paid consultants.

Our main objective is to contribute to the appraisal profession. We understand that a la mode is not the only provider of residential software and we are not paid to promote a la mode . We have defined three goals that will have to be achieved for us to accomplish our objective.

First, we intend to seek out innovative advances in technologies related to the development and reporting of real property appraisals.

Second, we will select from those advances the more practical and advantageous in the day to day operation of an appraisal office.

Third, we'll provide guidance to a la mode in the development of these new technologies.

In these endeavors, we want input from all appraisers, not just a la mode users. As it often happens, when one software provider introduces a worthwhile tool, then the others eventually add a similar feature. This is why you should share your ideas with us even if you're not a customer of a la mode . We'll need you to provide us with ideas, help us decide which ideas to move forward with, and test some working prototypes – for free.

Here are the criteria that we feel should be used to determine which projects we devote most of our attention to:

1. It will improve the quality of the appraisal and/or the report;
2. It will enable shorter delivery times; and/or,
3. It it will result in the appraiser being able to gross more money per hour.

Some of the ideas we are considering are: voice recognition; advanced map layering; reporting tools addressing the scope of work, USPAP, and Liability issues; the ability for groups of appraisers to be able to share their report data; additional tools to apply adjustments and have the software automatically insert a text discussion explaining them; and much more.

You can see why we are excited about participating in the Labs. We want to thank you in advance for your input and look forward to talking to you in person at one of the trade shows coming up this year.