Welcome to the Appraiser Sidekick resources section. This is a curated list of tools that offer help to most appraisal businesses.

These resources include tools to help with appraisals, as well as help with the complexities of running a business. The four groups of resources below include online education, appraisal software, business software, and appraisal tools.

Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That, however, does not affect the resources we list, because we are not affiliates for most of these resources.

1. Online Education for Real Estate Appraisers

Real estate appraisers have education requirements: qualifying education to get a license and certification, and continuing education to maintain a license and certification. On site classroom courses are available, but there are too many to list here. Online courses are available, and provide the flexibility of working into your schedule. Below are some options for qualifying education, continuing education, and exam preparation.

Mbition

Mbition provides online education for qualifying education, continuing education, and upgrading license. Available courses vary by state.

Try Mbition

Appraiser eLearning

Appraiser eLearning provides online education for continuing education. Available courses vary by state.

Try Appraiser eLearning

2. Appraisal Software for Real Estate Appraisers

Many software tools are available for helping with the appraisal process. These tools streamline the process of doing an appraisal, help with the accuracy of appraisals, and provide data to assist with appraisals.

Anow

Anow provides office management software for your appraisal business. According to Anow: “Anow’s office management appraisal software keeps everything organized in one place: your appraisals, schedules, comparable database, clients, and more”

Try Anow

a la mode

A la mode is a cloud based appraisal tool that helps make appraisals more efficient. It can fill out forms automatically, provide detailed analytics, and comprehensive reports.

Try a la mode

ClickFORMS

ClickFORMS from Bradford Technologies is a cloud based appraisal tool that helps make appraisals more efficient. It can fill out forms automatically, provide detailed analytics, and comprehensive reports. Unlike a la mode, ClickFORMS is only available for Windows operating systems.

Try ClickFORMS

SFREP

SFREP (Software for Real Estate Professionals) is appraisal software that enables the quick and professional appraisals. It is a comprehensive tool that automates many activities.

Try SFREP

ACI

ACI offers many cloud based workflow solutions for real estate appraisers. These include sketch tools, flood maps, location maps, analytics, and more. The comprehensive product offering allows the appraiser to purchase tools as they need a la carte, or the entire Desktop Collection.

Try ACI

Datamaster

Datamaster reduces the amount of data entry for an appraisal by importing data directly from the MLS and public records. Availability varies by MLS.

Try Datamaster

HouseCanary

HouseCanary provides “predictive real estate analytics and insights”, which are valuable for the real estate appraiser. Additionally, HouseCanary Agile Appraisal tool can “replace BPOs, 2055s and 1004s with fully compliant appraisals on demand.”

Try HouseCanary

ValueLink

ValueLink is a cloud based system that allows appraisers and AMCs to track all of their appraisal orders. It is the hub an appraisal management process.

Try ValueLink

Log My Appraiser Hours

Log My Appraiser Hours is an online tool for logging hours required for upgrading a license. This online tool is currently available in CA.

Try Log My Appraiser Hours

3. Business Software for Real Estate Appraisers

Running an appraisal business is more than just doing appraisals. From accounting to marketing, there are many other business related activities need to run a business. Below are some tools to help with some aspects of a business.

Appraiser Sidekick website

Appraiser Sidekick makes websites for real estate appraisers. A professional website is critical for every business, and real estate appraisal businesses need a website to be successful.

Try Appraiser Sidekick websites

Namecheap

Every website needs a domain name. Namecheap is an inexpensive, reliable, and easy way to get a domain name for your website. Once you get your domain name, Appraiser Sidekick can help you with your website.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is cloud accounting software for creating invoices, tracking expenses, recording revenue, and many other tools. Built for small business, it is ridiculously easy to use, and simplifies accounting for an entire business.

Try FreshBooks for free

G-Suite

G-Suite is a service offered by Google. For an extremely low monthly cost, G-Suite offers a professional email address for your website’s domain name, 30GB of cloud storage for files and photos, allows for easy file sharing with employees, customers, and vendors, and more.

Try G-Suite for free for 14 days

CleanMyMac

CleanMyMac is a tool available for Apple Mac users. It scans your Mac hard drive and cleans your Mac of all of the junk files that are created, and optimizes performance.

Try CleanMyMac

MileIQ

MileIQ is an app for smartphones that easily tracks your mileage using GPS. When you start a trip, simply start the app. When you’re finished with the trip, categorize whether the trip was for business or personal reasons. Offering a detailed dashboard and reporting, allocating miles to a client and rolling up for your taxes is a breeze.

Try MileIQ

4. Appraisal Tools for Real Estate Appraisers

There are many tools that can help on site at an appraisal. Although every appraiser has their own method for performing an appraisal, this is a selection of tools that are fairly common.

Leica DISTO Laser Measuring

Tape measures do the job, but laser distance measuring is faster and very accurate. The Leica DISTO comes in different models to choose from, and offers different accessories that provide additional value.

See Leica DISTO Laser Measuring devices

Mobile tablet – iPad, Samsung Galaxy, and Microsoft Surface

Notepad or tablet? Appraisers these days are finding that entering information on a tablet is a much more efficient way to do an appraisal. Especially with the appraisal software listed above being mobile friendly with information being accessible from the cloud. Although each of these tablets has a different functionality, it really depends on your preference for using iOS, Chrome, or Windows.

See iPads
See Samsung Galaxy
See Microsoft Surface