Non-lender form debuts to much acclaim

Written by Nathan Thomas on February 8, 2007

More room to describe the intended user and use. An expanded Improvements section without the 1004-style check boxes. The ability to really drill down on highest and best use. Better and more effective disclaimers that protect you. There's a lot to like about WinTOTAL's new General Purpose - Residential form, a new non-lender form available right now to WinTOTAL users. Take a tour by clicking here, or pull up a PDF by clicking here.   Read more...

Don’t just target homeowners for non-lender work - drill down on FSBOs

Written by Nathan Thomas on February 8, 2007

Attracting non-lender business isn't the same as finding needles in haystacks. We've talked about marketing to homeowners in recent editions. How about home sellers? You may have heard that the percentage of sales not involving a real estate agent -- For Sale By Owners, or FSBOs -- is declining. According to National Association of REALTORS® data, 12 percent of home sales are agent-free today, down from 13 percent in 2005. But with 2006 being the third-highest year on record for existing home sales, 12 percent is more than three quarters of a million FSBOs per year. And among sellers' biggest concerns when working without an agent is setting a realistic price. New York's Newsday reported this week:   Read more...

Value-skewing potential of buyer incentives increasing

Written by Nathan Thomas on January 4, 2007

Some time ago we wrote in this space about the unique problem of accounting for buyer incentives in a normalizing housing economy with a lot of inventory for sale. Based on the response, it was an issue you care about and are dealing with a lot. Now, more economists and housing sector watchers are paying attention, too.   Read more...

Katrina recovery program burned by AVMs; “Road Home” will use appraisals instead

Written by Nathan Thomas on January 4, 2007

The use of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) to calculate property damage in hurricane and flood ravaged New Orleans was recently discontinued, with government officials conceding the AVM values were often drastically off the mark. In most cases pre-storm appraisals will be used instead, a "shift [in] emphasis from computer-generated assessments to traditional appraisals by people," reported the New Orleans Times-Picayune.   Read more...

2007 real estate outlook: Some are bearish, but many optimistic for recovery

Written by Nathan Thomas on January 4, 2007

A new year brings fresh new looks at the housing road ahead. We took a look at a number of regional and national 2007 real estate forecasts. Experts are telling us that they are guardedly optimistic the coming year will see a rebound in sales, probably near midyear, steady interest rates if not a drop, and a likely bump in the amount of work for residential appraisers.   Read more...

Time to think about your 2006 tax return

Written by Nathan Thomas on December 15, 2006

We make and sell software and technology, we don't give tax advice. Hopefully, you already seek professional help with your business' books. If so, consult your tax professional about whether these year-end business and personal tax tips might be right for you:   Read more...

The Exact way to load WinTOTAL on to your new PC

Written by Nathan Thomas on December 15, 2006

Plenty of you will get new PCs in the next few weeks, either for Christmas or as end-of-year tax shelters. What you may not know is there are tools and online support available to make it easier to set up WinTOTAL, a la mode's form filling appraisal software, on your new machine without having to re-invent the wheel.   Read more...