What appraisal software do you all use? Do you like it?
Just curious what options are out there and any reviews.

I'm using lightbox and narrative 1 if anyone has comparisons or thoughts on that.
[{"id": "iujx8n0", "text": "I've used them all, and increasingly, I believe they are only suitable for a solid team. It's just not worth the effort to database everything, and far too many databases have endless irrelevant information you would never use in the adjustment process. None are magical and all have flaws.  Narrative1 hasn't changed in a decade and still uses deprecated document reference linking for example.  Valcre looks great, but is impossible to customize the excel and is way overkill for small shop work.  Everything else is really, really old.\n\nIf a client wants a 150-page automated report, there are like 10 national firms that can give them that.  Local or niche expertise is really all there is for the small firm. \n\nCompanies have been trying to use technology to improve the report writing process since the 1990s, and they all suck to this day.  \n\nThe reality is the there just aren't the margins for anything spectacular, the market has very low standards such that the benefits technology would afford the are not appreciated, and appraisers will use sweat shop, offshore, or copy and paste first.\n\nAny number of appraisers could have made a simple Access database 30 years ago using the OLE linking not like Narrative1.  It wasn't that hard. None bothered nor cared.", "replies": [{"id": "iulb08x", "text": "How many years in?", "replies": [{"id": "iupkzeg", "text": "I started appraising in 2002 at 24. I hold the MAI designation, but I am more involved with investing these days.", "replies": [{"id": "j1g552a", "text": "I know this is an old post and this is off-topic, but how did you get into it? I could only find a residential mentor after I left college in 2021, I'm getting my license hopefully next month and I want to become Certified General.", "replies": [{"id": "j23xin2", "text": "For me, it was a friend from high school.  I will say I have heard this before if you are in a secondary or tertiary market.  What I wish I did was get out of appraisal and New York City after a few years and move to one of those secondary or tertiary markets.\n\nThe problem is the volume and fees in those markets make it harder to train.  I've also found people in smaller markets don't work long hours. \n\nIf you're 22, move to your nearest major city, put in a few years, and move back. That is the best way to go.", "replies": [{"id": "j2ccdg4", "text": "I'm 24 turning 25 next month. I'm in North Jersey (I'm 20 min outside of NYC). Just sent in my application for certified residential, should be taking the test next month. It seems the hard part is breaking into the certified general world, especially now. What do you look for in trainees?", "replies": [], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "iurt15r", "text": "This is the answer I didnt want to get but was expecting .\n\nDo you offshore?  If so what tasks and how has that worked?\n\nWe are a lot like you, small shop mostly doing row, private appraisals, tax appeal and gov stuff taking bank work to fill gaps", "replies": [{"id": "iusiu2l", "text": "I do have a team in Colombia. I use them for coding stuff in Azure and data entry for bank work, when there was too much bank work to turn down.  For the coding of my own custom web database and word/excel office.js add ins, it's been great.  I'm pretty generous and pay them $25 per hour.  They do much better work than Americans at that wage.\n\nBank work has dried up or just isn't worth my time, so I'm trying to keep them busy.  \n\nI mostly went this route to remain competitive. All the nationals are doing this, so all you can do is pay more, teach them better, and have happy employees when the next run up comes.\n\nI don't use them for anything remotely legal.  I get good fees for row and tax appeal work.  I won't risk that.  But I also do a lot of reviews.  My analyst team is better than all the nationals in my market for financing based on what I read every week.\n\nThey really freed us up to actually spend time talking to market participants and really confirming deals.  Not only has our client base grown by proper execution, it has opened all kind of investment partnership opportunities. \n\nI should have done this a decade ago.  Appraisal is a horrible full time job, but an excellent part of your professional real estate practice.", "replies": [{"id": "iusn3gt", "text": "Tasks specifically - I'm doing a lot of stuff on the programming side beyond normal appraisal.  \n\nThe problem I have found with nationals is the integrity of the database is horrible. Contrary to popular belief, there is no significant auditing.  So myself and my two partners are the only ones who enter comps into the database as we research them.  This is the most important part of the job and doesn't make sense to farm out. \n\nFor the analysts, they are able to do the entire front end.  I've been wary of using them for abstracting leases, but may consider it in the future.\n\nThey are kind of an offshoot of the programming staff I hired.  But believe me, once you hit a certain age, doing all that mundane front end stuff becomes mind numbing.  \n\nSome of it I'm automating with some prominent APIs, but these are providers I'm using not just for appraisal, but investment decisions, brokerage, advisory.   But taxes and zoning and local flood zones (a thing in the greater NYC MSA after Hurricane Sandy) will always been manual research.  \n\nUltimately, their front end work is very good, good enough for any bank client. I suppose I could create some system to crank out one $2,500 report per day, I just don't want to, and I'm sure you're the same way.  \n\nIt doesn't cost that much to replicate what any report writer has, and surpass them in terms of using the latest Office add-in technology and Azure services.  I'd say $50,000 is a good estimate.  You'd spend that in a few years using Valcre anyway.  This way, you get to customize the web database exactly for your needs, get rid of the fluff, focus on brevity, and build a platform that will last the next 20 years or more.  \n\nIt seems like a lot, but it's the only way to get the efficiencies of the nationals and service your niche clients at a higher level.  \n\nSo if you have the cash reserves or cash flow, use this downtime to modernize.", "replies": [{"id": "iuso7s9", "text": "Thx for your responses that was very helpful", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]