Technology Tips for the Appraiser

At the Good, Better, Best Appraiser Workshop we teach a section on technology which includes tips on how to reduce time in preparing and formatting appraisal reports. Many of the computer applications we discuss and recommend are small in size, take little computer power or memory to use and all can be directly applied to appraisal work. Best of all, they are all free with most being very simple and intuitive to use with little to no learning curve. At the workshop we review and use many programs, a few of the programs to be included in the October 4th & 5th Workshop discussions are listed below.

Several of the tips include:

Zotero - A Firefox add-on originally designed and developed for academics to keep track of research references and sources. We as personal property appraisers need to keep track of our sources and libraries, and we also need to print bibliographies for our appraisal reports. One of the great features is it will automatically download book information from Amazon.com, and keep track and manage your appraisal library. Once books are entered either automatically or by hand, Zotero has the capability of creating a bibliography and pasting to your computers clip board. You select the books used as references, Zotero saves to the clip board and all the appraiser has to do is paste the bibliography into the appraisal report. Fast and simple, with no typing out of numerous sources.

Edit Web Site - Is a unique little tool that resides in your bookmarks tool bar and allows you to locally edit (remove and add) information on a web page. Perhaps you want specific information from the site, but not all of the advertising and subsidiary content, plus you might wish to add a notation. All can be done and then printed with this unique little tool.

Image Resize - For Microsoft Windows only. Image resize is a windows XP power tool from Microsoft. This little program will resize an image or will perform a batch resize of selected images into three universal sizes. I like to keep the high resolution image in my files for examination purposes, but when I paste into my appraisal report I typically prefer a smaller size. Image resize takes the original image and makes a smaller copy. Works great and no resizing within the document.

HP Smart Web Printing - This small application lets you select, store and organize text and graphics from multiple web pages and then edit and print exactly what you see onscreen. It gives you the control you need to print meaningful information while minimizing waste. Now you can easily select text and graphics from multiple websites and combine them in your appraisal report. I use it to collect a group of comps, and then print with fewer pages. HP Smart Web Printing saves money, and helps the environment by using less ink and paper. Like the other applications, HP Smart Web Printing is free.

These are only a few of the tips Jane and I provide at the Good, Better, Best Appraiser Workshop. We offer many more tips and applications to aid the personal property appraiser. We also have sections on contracts and client management, dealing with client challenges, worksheets, inspection tips and hints. All proven and currently being used by appraisers. Visit www.appraiserworkshops.com for more information.