Press Releases

Solution Allows Appraisers to Submit Appraisal Reports Digitally

HOUSTON, TX, September 10, 2008 – ARGUS Software has today released the first Appraisal Reporting Solution that will comply with the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE) data standards originally donated from the Appraisal Institute’s Commercial Appraisal Report Standards (CARS) initiative.  Called ARGUS Appraisal Reporting Solution (AARS), the software program is a reporting tool for commercial real estate appraisers that allows appraisal reports to be submitted digitally using the XML mapping process.

Creating commercial appraisal reports can be a time consuming process that requires appraisers to merge data from many different sources including relevant information on the market, comparable sales, etc. from other recently completed reports.  This can lead to human error in addition to being an inefficient way of creating the appraisal report.  AARS allows lenders to capture all the appraisal information in a standardized format while preserving the ability of the appraiser to include all the usual narrative, pictures, maps and other features typically in an appraisal report.   This automates the process, increasing productivity, accuracy and efficiency while simultaneously benefiting the lenders via electronic capture and transmittal of critical underwriting data points.  It allows the appraiser to produce an appraisal report in Microsoft Word that looks professional coupled with the ability to capture information for the appraisal from databases with information and transmit the resulting appraisal report to the user in a secure digital format.

“ARGUS Software has been an active participant and supporter of OSCRE and the Appraisal Institute for years,” comments Mark Kingston, president and CEO of ARGUS Software. “Like our flagship product, ARGUS Valuation— DCF, this new solution will provide our clients with greater efficiency and profitability in an ever demanding market. This is the first of several solutions we will be bringing that will assist CRE professionals in changing the market to a more consistent, efficient, transparent and ultimately profitable environment.”

“The integration of AARS with ARGUS Valuation-DCF is also a very important,” added Jeffrey Fisher, Ph.D. a professor of real estate at Indiana University who has included ARGUS Valuation-DCF in two of his textbooks used at universities around the world.  “This insures that the results from the DCF analysis can be incorporated into the appraisal report using the software that has become the global standard for lease-by-lease analysis.”  Fisher’s books that include ARGUS have been translated into Japanese, Chinese and Korean as students around the world want to follow best practices for the valuation of commercial real estate that has been developed in the US.

According to a recent Appraisal Institute newspost, industry leaders have lauded the ability provided by the OSCRE/CARS standard to transmit appraisal report data with a speed and accuracy never before realized. In addition, validation of data against the data standard is now possible to ensure compliance with the soon-to-be-published OSCRE data standard. Furthermore, it was noted that the mortgage underwriting process is changing to serve customers more efficiently, which will ultimately benefit a company’s bottom line, a major concern given the current economic downturn.

With regard to the above, “it was natural for the market leader in asset valuation, ARGUS Software, to also be first to market with a solution that employs the OSCRE standard,” notes Bruce Kellogg, ARGUS Software’s senior vice president of industry relations, current OSCRE chair and past president of the US Appraisal Institute.  “Software tools such as ARGUS Appraisal Reporting Solution allow appraisers, financial analysts and brokers more time to focus on the true art of the appraisal rather than mechanics of pulling together a report.”

“Creating efficiencies for appraisers through products such as the ARGUS Appraisal Reporting Solution is a tremendous help considering the more complicated market we are operating in today,” says Lynny Osenbaugh, president of appraisal firm, Osenbaugh & Associates in Houston and current president of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network. “This benefit combined with the OSCRE/CARS standard compatibility is yet another step towards the standardization necessary to advance the industry.”

ARGUS Appraisal Reporting Solution grabs data, tables and images from various Microsoft Office applications such as MS Word and MS Excel and intelligently merges the information into either pre-designed or customized commercial real estate reports commonly used by appraisers and other professionals in the industry. Further, the product provides seamless integration with ARGUS Valuation— DCF eliminating the need to rekey information into either program.

This recent addition to an already impressive portfolio of software solutions improves ARGUS Software’s continued pursuit to automate and empower the commercial real estate lifecycle.