Leveraging Our IT Challenge Into Our Competitive Advantage

If history has taught us anything it is that change is a constant and that nothing stays the same for long. The weather changes every day, people are evolving, cities are growing, houses are being renovated, and technology is expanding at an exponential rate. These technological improvements have finally arrived at Patrick F. Casey & Associates, Real Property Appraisers. Our goal and our challenge is to leverage these emerging technologies into a competitive advantage that will allow us to increase our market share, add value for our clients, and make life easier for our appraisal staff.

Even though change can be a scary proposition, great rewards lie ahead for those who are willing and able to adapt to and embrace these new challenges. In my first blog I discussed some of the more recent improvements in appraisal related technology which included digital photography, laser measuring devices, and personal digital assistants (PDA's), and how they have contributed to streamlining the appraisal process. In this second installment I discuss how we plan to integrate these and other recent advances into our appraisals in order to reduce turnaround times and lower cost.

In the past clients phoned the office, spoke to the secretary who then transferred the call to the appraiser who then answered the clients questions about appraisals in general and how our office did appraisals, how long it would take, how much it would cost, and then, if we were lucky (and still awake) we often took the order. A tedious process for both the client and the firm that was an inefficient use of everyone's resources.

Once our digital office is in place our website will answer all these questions about who what, where, how much, what kind, etc. creating a much more efficient and better organized information delivery system. Our clients will appreciate it and our staff will love us for it.

In addition, the web site will enable our clients to order appraisals without even calling the office and to do so any time they want, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. No need to call the office at all anymore, just a couple clicks on our website and "wa-la" the appraisal is ordered and being processed. The client even gets a receipt so they have a record of when the appraisal was ordered and what it cost.

The website automatically sends the appraisal request via email to the firm's production manager who receives it on her web-enabled smart phone. She then emails the order to the web-enabled mobile device of the appraiser who will be doing the assignment.

The appraiser receives the order on her mobile 3G device (Smartphone, laptop, Netbook, or the new I-Pad!), connects to the local MLS residential database on the same 3G mobile device from wherever she is, downloads the subject and comparable data, makes the appointment, and inspects the house using a hand-held Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or I-Pad using her direct-entry, hand-held finger. Along the way she is taking the digital photos and measuring the house using the Disto Laser Measuring tool. The Disto tool is pure genius. Not only does it measure the house but it also records the sketch automatically using the measurement inputs. Once completed the Disto downloads both the measurements and sketch to the PDA (or I-Pad) using wireless Bluetooth technology.

After inspecting the comps she downloads the data from the PDA to her device of choice (laptop, Netbook or I-Pad) via a very fast Firewire connection. Her appraisal software automatically transfers and populates all the appraisal forms on her chosen device (laptop, Netbook or I-Pad) with all the data, photos, measurements, sketch, etc. and she only needs to double-check the report for errors, digitally sign it, and upload it to the clients email address. Start to finish the entire process might be accomplished in as little as five hours.

Admittedly this is the ideal situation and probably not how most appraisal's will go but the technologies involved are not new, all have been in place for many years now (digital photography, mapping downloads, wireless bluetooth, laser measuring devices, 3G networks, Smartphones, laptops, etc.). The only new part is the process wherein we put them all together and it is this
new procedure that will create our competitive advantage and add value for our clients.