Trying to get automated appraisal data in areas where it’s not disclosed or maintained in an easily available format has been a challenge.
But a partnership between RealQuest Technologies and HNC Software will provide an automated system that can use data from a multiple listing service to compile an appraisal when other data aren’t available.
The partnership will integrate HNC’s AREAS statistical property valuation with the RealQuest On-Line Data Access real estate data acquisition software. The new package would allow a user to receive a statistical computation of the current market value of a home within seconds, using data brought together automatically from a variety of sources.
HNC is considered a leader in the field of artificial intelligence. The partnership gives RealQuest a large and powerful partner.
The system uses HNC’s artificial intelligence software to learn from past valuations and make corrections in future valuations.
The program, aimed at large lenders, is sometimes called a “driveby appraisal,” because it eliminates the on-site appraisal.
Pulling the data together on the fly is central to RealQuest’s hopes. “The key is for us to be the glue that ties data to the end user,” said Graham Marriott, the firm’s president.
AREAS users will now have online access to almost all major residential sales data providers, plus select multiple listings.
“RealQuest gives AREAS immediate access to California, Illinois, Washington and Texas MLS’s which isn’t available in any other automated property valuation package today,” said Larry Spelhaug, HNC vice president for financial systems. “The Texas connection is particularly exciting because pending Texas legislation will enable home equity loans to be made in Texas for the first time, beginning Jan. 2, 1998.”
Marriott said he was looking forward to expanding into new markets. “In the past, we have sold primarily to appraisers and mortgage lenders to effect the flow of data directly into their appraisal forms software. The integration with AREAS will provide us access to a new sector of the mortgage banking arena.”
Good listeners
“Listen to your customers” is an old saw of business, but one to which the real estate industry hasn’t always paid attention. The Tennessee Association of Realtors showed its listening skills at its recent convention in Florida, however, by flying in three families who had used the Web to purchase their homes recently and having them tell their stories.
During a three-hour panel, the designated consumers talked about how they checked out prospective properties on the Internet, how they chose their agent, and what they liked and didn’t like about the process.
High on the group’s list of positives were Web sites loaded with relocation information (including housing, neighborhoods, school information and local amenities); e-mail (in order to communicate more easily with their agents); and pictures, lots of pictures, in listings (panel members told the Realtors that they simply skipped listings with no images).
They did not like Web sites that required consumers to fill out a form to obtain information; panel members said they would just skip those and move on to the next site. They also didn’t like sites heavy with self-promotion, telling the Realtors that they chose their agents based on the usefulness of their Web site and the promptness of their e-mail replies.
Close inspection
When it comes to buying a home, most people want to know that the house they’re buying won’t fall down in a stiff breeze. They want it to stand up to a hurricane.
Buyers and sellers in any part of the country can learn what is involved in an inspection and get consumer tips on maintenance and safety by checking out the Web page of a home inspection service like that of TexaSpec, at www.texaspec.com.
The firm has tips that will be useful for those on both sides of a transaction. The site tells what to expect and how to prepare a home for an inspection (lock up those pets!) and goes through a step-by-step list of what an inspector should check.
TexaSpec, like many services, can issue a report immediately at the end of the inspection. Home safety issues get a thorough review, from electrical problems and carbon dioxide to lead paint and natural gas. Included are suggestions to make the house safer.
The site also includes the never-ending list of maintenance chores you’ll have to perform to keep the home in prime condition once you move in.
Nothing but Web
Where are the best places to go for a mortgage on the Internet? How about finding a buyer’s agent online? There are a vast number of real estate services on the Internet for would-be home buyers, but knowing where to start looking can be intimidating, especially for the novice Internet user.
That’s the rationale behind an upcoming home buyers’ seminar exclusively devoted to helping a consumer through buying a piece of property via the Internet. The free workshop, sponsored by First Manhattan Funding and Fidelity National Title, will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Culver City, Calif.
Various industry speakers will make presentations on such topics as Internet basics, online listings searches, property valuation and negotiation, negotiation skills, title and escrow issues, hiring a buyer’s agent or a home inspector, and how to look and apply for a home loan via the Web, according to workshop organizers. In addition, organizers say, the workshop’s exposition area will feature firms representing each step of an online real estate transaction.
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Chicago Tribune Homes
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