Direct Video Link: https://youtu.be/8_j0klQ9lms
Searching
All of the addresses and photos you use in a report are archived automatically whenever the report is saved. A scan for new info is also performed when you start up Appraise-It Pro. Because everything is automated, you don’t have to worry about maintaining a database on your own or adding new records (though you can if you wish and that will be covered in this article as well).
When you start Comp Manager by going to the Tools tab in Appraise-It Pro, you are presented with the search screen. This is a little different from other programs you may have used in the past as it uses a unique tile interface. Each tile is a search box that you can use to narrow your search results down more and more. You can choose to search on just one item, or use multiple items to fine-tune your results.
Note that some of these search tiles have pulldown menus that allow you to select ranges for number and date values, Yes or No for binary options, and more.
On the right are the search options. Here you can select either the Comparable Database, which is used by default, or CompLink. CompLink is a subscription product that allows you to pull in data from your local MLS. We cover this product in another article so for more information, click [HERE].
There are two check boxes under the Comparable Database selection. Indexed Reports searches all of the addresses that have been gathered automatically from your previous reports. User Records shows only those addresses that have been manually added through Comp Manager and not automatically indexed. If both options are selected, every record type will be searched.
Some additional options below the data selection include the order in which to sort the results, how many results will be displayed on each page, whether to include all matches for a given address or just the most recent, and whether to include results that are contained in the current report. In most cases, you will probably want to leave those last two checkboxes unchecked so you get clean and up-to-date search results.
To see how all this works, do a search for a street, in a specific city, that is a ranch style home. Notice how it auto fills in as you type, similar to a web browser. Next, click View Results.
The search gives you results shown as a series of tiles arranged in a grid. By default, 24 tiles will be shown per page as this fits best for standard 1080p monitors, but this can be changed back on the search screen as mentioned above. You can switch between multiple pages by using arrows that will show up at the bottom if multiple pages of results exist.
Each address tile displays a front view photo if available, a street address and some key information about the property, also if available. A UAD tag will also be shown if the data for that address is in the proper UAD format.
The tile you select will be colored blue, while the others will be colored green because they are not currently selected.
A few icons are also shown in each tile.
The Photos icon allows you to see all of the pictures associated with that address and, if desired, delete them or reassign their view label. You can also drag and drop specific photos over to the transfer panel. For instance, you can drag photos into the General Photos addenda in this way by selecting that addendum in the pulldown at the top of the Transfer panel.
When you drag them over, you will also have the option to relabel the photo by typing in a custom label and pressing the plus sign to save it for future use, or you can use the pulldown menu to select a label from the list. You can also delete a label from the list by selecting it and pressing the minus button.
The Details icon shows you all of the information stored in the database about this address and allows you to add or edit notes about the property.
To transfer property data from Comp Manager, just select the address you want to use in your report then click and drag the tile into the space on the right for Comp 1. If you wanted to put the data tile someplace else, you could use the pulldown menu at the top to select a different comp or listing addendum. You can also choose to use the address as the subject of your currently opened report. To add a new comp or listing page to your report, just select the type of page to add and click the green Plus button.
You can also do a new search and repeat this process for other comps or listings by clicking the Back to Search button in the lower right.
If you make any changes to the report while Comp Manager is open, you can click the Reload Appraisal Data button at the top of the Transfer panel, to the left of the page dropdown. Note: This will clear the Transfer panel, so if any records were not yet transferred you will have to reselect them.
Below the Transfer panel there are a few options. Under Selection you can choose what data is transferred into the report. By default the front view photo and address data will be transferred, but you can choose to only transfer the front view photo or only the data without the photo.
When you are ready to add the address data into the report, click Transfer to Report.
Searching Addresses Already in the Report
The Search Addresses in Report button allows you to search the comp database with the addresses you have already entered in Appraise-It Pro for the subject, comps and listings. This can be useful if you have manually entered photos and data into Comp Manager previously and wish to recall them all at once by searching the addresses already in the report.
[PART 2]
Rev. 4/2020
