February 2010

Ditch DLS and Take Your Wi-Fi With You [Mobile Appraiser]

Thumbnail image for Ditch DLS and Take Your Wi-Fi With You [Mobile Appraiser] by Bryan McDonald

I can access the local MLS on my iPhone when I am not in the office.  The problem is that the website is not optimized for a mobile device.  Fortunately AT&T recently expanded their 3G network into my area.  Even though my MLS is not optimized for mobile devices, at least I can access it [...]

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Will Your Next House Have a Power Plant in the Backyard?

Thumbnail image for Will Your Next House Have a Power Plant in the Backyard? by Bryan McDonald

The idea of a fuel cell has been around for a long time.  According to Wikipedia, The principle of the fuel cell was discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein in 1838.  I would not have guessed that the idea had been around for more than 100 years!  So will a clean inexpensive energy source [...]

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A Fast Turn Time is the New Appraisal Requirement [Ugly Trends]

Thumbnail image for A Fast Turn Time is the New Appraisal Requirement [Ugly Trends] by Bryan McDonald

The pressure for a quick turn time has always been present but has increased significantly in the past few months. Real Estate Appraisal Turn Time is the time between when an appraisal order is received and the time the appraisal is turned in to the client. Click HERE if you can not see the embedded [...]

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Google Maps Labs and 9 New Experimental Features

Thumbnail image for Google Maps Labs and 9 New Experimental Features by Bryan McDonald

Google Maps launched 9 new experimental features.  You can enable any of the new features by clicking the little green vial in the top right menu. I use Google Maps for my real estate appraisal business almost everyday.  Three of the new features I found useful are: Drag ‘n’ Zoom that lets you draw a [...]

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Mortgagee Letter 2009-28 Appraiser Independence

Thumbnail image for Mortgagee Letter 2009-28 Appraiser Independence by Bryan McDonald

Enactment of ML 2009-28 (Appraiser Independence) will be implemented February 15, 2010. ML 2009-28 (originally planned for a January 1, 2010 implementation) has two parts: a) prohibition of mortgage brokers and commission-based lender staff from the appraisal process, and b) appraiser selection in FHA Connection.  The effective date for both sections of this guidance will [...]

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Google Voice – An Independent Contractor’s BFF

Thumbnail image for Google Voice – An Independent Contractor’s BFF by Bryan McDonald

I used RingCentral for several years to manage the stream of business calls I receive.  Now I use Google Voice as my main business line, it is cheaper (free) and has all of the features my small real estate appraisal company needs. With Google Voice, you can easily mange your calls and voicemail, people can [...]

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How to Sync Bookmarks Across Computers [Mobile Appraiser]

Thumbnail image for How to Sync Bookmarks Across Computers [Mobile Appraiser] by Bryan McDonald

If you use multiple computers your bookmarks can get scattered and unorganized. Bookmark synchronizers solve that problem by merging your bookmarks and storing them online for easy access. I use Google Chrome as my web browser and was happy when Google released Chrome version 4.0 that added bookmark syncing and extensions. You can enable bookmark sync [...]

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