My New Blog

I have been in the Real Esate Appraisal business for 14 years now.  Wow things have changed in this business since I first started out.  I remember receiving some of our first orders on the old fax machings that took carbon type paper that came in a roll.  I remember always looking for sales on 35mm film so that I could load up on it because there were several times that we just waisted the rest of the roll because we needed those photos and we needed them now!  I remember becoming pretty good friends with the people at Smiths photo lab as I was there on a day to day basis.  One hour photo was the best thing in the world.  My order would always be 3" x 5" triple prints and I need them in as close to an hour as possible and I would be back.  Those were the good old days or were they?

Now people are receiving their orders via fax or email.  Photos are taken with a digital camera that is downloaded right into your program.  The internet is used more that just for finding comparable sales.  The internet is has so much power and information located at your finger tips.  Appraisal reports have not been typed from a DOS based program for years.  The new programs come with different cheats and ways to set up certain verbage for different types of market.  All at the touch of a few keys.

I remember when my Brother and I used to travel the State of Utah and gurantee our work within 48 hours.  Boy was this a tough business to get into.  At first we thought that this would be a very easy business to get into but I don't recall it going that way.  My Dad was a local Dentist.  My Grandmother and Grandfather ran the BYU food services for several years.  My Brother and I worked at our Dad's side business "TANKS CAR WASH!"  Just yesterday a guy called into my office and was questioning my ability to perform appraisal work in the Utah County areas.  I told him that I lived here all of my life and that the Cloward family had been in this valley for quite some time now.  I told him that my Dad was the owner of TANKS and he said, "Your welcome," and laughed.  He thought that was so funny as I remember people doing that to us all the time on the phone.

Now the software that is available to appraisers is so far advanced that it would takes weeks if not months to master the program and all of its capabilities.  We no longer have to use generic maps and rub on the "Subject" and "Comparable" stickers to each map.  Now I can download a generic street map if I want to, but I can also use "Hybrid" maps which are basically actual photos taken from satelites.  You can soom into very good detailed neighborhood boundaries.  No more stocking up on the flood maps that get worn out from the day to day uses.  With the touch of a button, I can import the actual flood map and a photo of the map and where the subject property is located on that perticular map.

Thinks just took a lot more time back then to put out a quality appraisal report.  Don't get me wrong.  I still have plenty of research to do to make sure that my appraisals are backed by if not good but great data. 

I wonder how Real Estate Appraising will be in five or even ten years from now.  I know that over the past 14 years, the appraisal business is barely reccognizable compared to how the business is operated today!  Isn't technology awesome?  The good thing about it is that is continues to get even better.