Appraisal Technology - What Works, What Does Not

I'm not going to say that I keep up with every innovation because I don't, but I have taken the time to investigate many of the tech offerings and I have spent my share on gadgets.  Here are my thoughts and general ratings with regard to the usefulness of each:

Hand-held Scanners

I bought a top of the line scanner after seeing them in an appraisal tech course that I took, I was impressed with their capabilities.  The problem for me has been that I have had almost no reason to use it.  I even brought it to the library in hopes of finding some pages that I would have to have, scan some passage or image that would make the $ 200+ investment worth while, but it never happened.  My appraiser rating is 1 out of 10.

Laser Measuring Devices

I bought a nearly new but slightly used top of the line device, which in this instance worked out for me.  It's small, easy to use, accurate and it even communicates with my phone via Bluetooth.  Here's a tip, if you don't buy the model made to work in the sunlight you are just going to struggle with it if you are an appraiser, because as you know we spend our time measuring during the day.  My appraiser rating is 9 of 10.

Digital Cameras

Of course these are a no brainier for appraisers, but I have had several makes and models and I have found that paying a little more to get the quality and features that the better cameras offer is worth the extra dollars.  I currently use a Sony dsc-hx9v which offers 16x optical zoom, 16.2 megapixels, gps, panorama photos, Bluetooth and amazing picture quality.  My appraiser rating is 10 of 10.

Hand-held GPS Devices

It's nice to have GPS with built in topographic maps, but I have found not all that useful in the city.  After spending hundreds on the latest offering I found some iPhone applications that were accurate and cost only a few dollars.  My appraiser rating is 1 of 10.

Smartphones

My car has a GPS navigation system, but its a few years old now and basically useless because I live in Las Vegas and things change here even when it's not booming.  My smartphone has GPS and it's server based so it's always up to date.  As an appraiser I would buy a smartphone for the GPS alone.  My appraiser rating is 9 of 10.

Tablet PCs

I have had a few tablet pcs and purchased many applications including most of those directed at the appraisal community.  My opinion is that while I use my tablet pc daily for a number of tasks, and I would feel robbed if I didn't have it, I simply don't find the current offering of appraisal applications to be that productive.  Maybe with a USB port and compatible software on my desktop I may look again.  My appraiser rating is 5 of 10.

That was a brief discussion of some of the hardware that I have evaluated as an appraiser, I will write a short article about software in an upcoming article.

For more appraisal information contact Glenn Rigdon, MA,MRICS, ASA a Las Vegas / Henderson Nevada appraiser via email or via his business website Horizon Village Appraisal (http://www.horizonvillageappraisal.com), or you can also click on “Contact Us” on the home page of this website.