One of the promises of the Information Age that hasn't quite come true yet is the "paperless office." As a professional in a tightly regulated industry highly dependent on paper, you've probably been looking forward to the day when you could see the top of your desk again. Click to read more
A consequence of the housing boom that has been overlooked — by homeowners and appraisers alike — has been the growing problem of underinsurance. Click to read more
Past due fees that you might have been too busy to pay attention to the last few years are becoming more important to collect. You've been asking for features that can help you collect and avoid late or non-payment in the first place. Now we've added some tools to your XSite that make it easier to get paid. All without changing the way you work. Click to read more
In the last three years, a la mode, one of the most mission critical and influential companies in the real estate technology industry, has given away two Mercedes SLK convertibles, a Corvette convertible, a Range Rover Sport and a Porsche Boxster. The company announced today that this November a lucky agent or broker will be chosen to drive away in a 2006 Porsche Cayenne S. The “Porsche of SUVs” will be on display at the National Association of REALTORS® Conference & Expo in New Orleans. Click to read more
The Aurora Status Dashboard is a rich resource for getting up to speed on what's happening with WinTOTAL. Each Instant Customer Update (ICU) improves WinTOTAL with bug fixes, usability improvements, new forms or features. We released more than 150 ICUs for WinTOTAL version 4 (Athena) over five years. Click to read more
A new WinTOTAL plugin can help you reap the rewards of the white hot market of the last few years and pick up some work from non-mortgage clients. Click to read more
An outfit called the Center for Responsible Appraisals and Valuations released an "Appraisal Compliance Paper" this month with the purpose of informing lenders about their responsibilities for overseeing their appraisal and valuation systems. It's sometimes not as "plain English" as it could be but is a good summary of what responsible lenders are being instructed to do by FIRREA and federal banking authority guidance. Click to read more
Now that Fannie Mae makes the cost approach optional, many of you aren't doing it anymore on single family residential assignments. Many of you still are because your clients sometimes ask for it, and you like delivering a more complete, even more attractive, report. Many of you would include the cost approach if you could upcharge for it, while some of you are reluctant to do so. Click to read more
Client pressure is a huge issue and concern for most appraisers. In a recent survey the Appraisal Advocacy Coalition found that when asked about the importance of 14 different issues appraisers rated client pressure the most important of all, tied with data theft. Click to read more
All the tricks of the marketing and client retention trade won't keep all your clients ordering at the same pace they did in 2003. But that's not a reason to take your eye off the ball, it's a reason to bear down and do everything you can to be sure your phone keeps ringing (or XSite keeps pumping out orders) while your colleagues' go silent. Click to read more
Contact Kara Calderon for appraisal or real estate industry news and Molly Dowdy for mortgage industry news. Or call 1-800-252-6633.
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