Appraisers, more than anybody in real estate, buy new things that work
July 13, 2004
Appraisers have been on the leading edge of technology and change in valuation at least since a la mode founder and CEO Dave Biggers and his friends started writing DOS programs to automatically populate appraisal forms 20 years ago. Compare the last time you saw a URAR filled out by hand to the last time you saw paperwork from one of your clients filled out by hand, and tell us who's better at adapting to technological change. Click to read more
You should see our new data center
July 06, 2004
We announced last week that we completed expansion of our Oklahoma City headquarters to accommodate a new data center and customer service department. The new data center houses more than 100 servers dedicated to our Mercury Network; our Vault online appraisal backup and file storage service; our XSites websites, which act as hubs for appraisers, agents, inspectors and mortgage originators to do business with one another; and our other services for real estate professionals, like InterFlood flood maps, Microsoft™ location maps, and CertMail secure, virus-protected e-mail with no file size attachment limits.
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“Bundling” the right way with XSites backed by Mercury servers
July 06, 2004
A buzzword in mortgage lending lately is "bundling," often called "bundled services." Companies that make their money from mortgage originators who order ancillary products and services necessary for mortgage production have seemingly all decided that everything they do needs to have a package price now. Click to read more
You don’t have to wait for WinTOTAL 5.0
July 06, 2004
Coming in a special update we'll release later this month, you'll find a revolutionary new print engine that we actually developed for the new WinTOTAL 5.0. Rather than hold it for release with WinTOTAL 5.0 — which anyone with a support contract will get for free — the productivity enhancement and time savings this new engine offers was important enough that we wanted to get it to you as soon as possible. Click to read more
New Fannie forms in WinTOTAL this week
July 06, 2004
Recently Fannie Mae has released test versions of new iterations of the URAR (1004), 2055, 1073, 1075, 1004B and 1004D. WinTOTAL users with support memberships will have the new forms Thursday evening — for free — as part of an Instant Customer Update. Click to read more
a la mode completes headquarters expansion; new data center, customer care department
July 01, 2004
a la mode, the nation's largest provider of software and technology to the people who power the mortgage transaction, has completed expansion of its headquarters here to accommodate a new data center and customer service department. Click to read more
New a la mode data center, expansion means more Agent productivity, support
July 01, 2004
a la mode has completed expansion of its headquarters here to accommodate a new data center and customer service department. The new data center houses more than 100 servers, and is supported by seven full-time MIS staff. A 485 horsepower turbo diesel-powered backup generator protects a la mode customers from downtime in the event of a local power loss. The generator powers a la mode’s entire 25,000 square-foot headquarters, including servers, when necessary.
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What slowdown? Even rate hike won’t stop home buying surge
July 01, 2004
Mortgages, car loans and business debt should become more expensive after the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve's decision to raise the federal funds rate — the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans — by a quarter point. Mortgage rates, among other things, react to changes in the federal funds rate, which has been cut six times since the disaster of September 11, 2001. This week was the first time the rate has been raised since May 2000. Click to read more
MLS import from REALTOR.com® to be disabled
July 01, 2004
Homestore®, owns, or has, licensed trademark rights to the words REALTOR®, REALTOR.com® and operates the REALTOR.com® website. Homestore® maintains that it owns the factual information you upload to the REALTOR.com® site, and not you. Accordingly, we have been told to cease and desist allowing you to enter your listings' MLS number and display your REALTOR.com® listing on your Agent XSite for your prospective buyers. Homestore® requires instead that if you upload your listings to REALTOR.com®, that they be displayed in proximity to your competition's listings on the REALTOR.com® site, and nowhere else. Click to read more
Rates will rise, but business will continue to boom
June 29, 2004
Mortgages, car loans and business debt should become more expensive after the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve meets tomorrow and, as widely expected, raises the federal funds rate — the rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans. Mortgage rates, among other things, react to changes in the federal funds rate, which has been cut six times since the disaster of September 11, 2001. Consensus seems to be that the Committee will raise the rate by at least one-quarter of one percent, the first time the rate has been raised since May 2000. Click to read more
