Real estate appraisers take better notes with digital voice recorders

Homeowners  and financial institutions call in appraisers when they want to determine the market value of a house or property, whether in preparation to sell or for a mortgage loan. The appraiser inspects the property thoroughly, and takes notes and formulates an estimate based on the size, features, and condition of the subject property in comparison to similar properties that have sold recently in the area.


Of course any homeowner or bank wants to get an appraisal that accurately reflects the property value. For this reason, an appraiser using a digital voice recorder during the inspection has a distinct advantage over those using traditional notes. or even worse-memory alone.


The appraiser can easily comment on each relevant feature or amenity in real time during the inspection.  Not having to stop in each room to make handwritten notes saves time and improves accuracy.


Unlike paper notes, a digital audio recording allows the appraiser to know exactly what he or she was thinking. It could help him or her recreate a more vivid picture of the property in his or her mind when back at the office putting together an estimate of value.


By transcribing the notes into a digital document, he or she can show the homeowner or bank exactly what went into the assessment of the property, and have back up documentation to support the subjective opinion.


An additional benefit of this technology is that the cost of digital recording devices has decreased greatly in the last few years.  For a modest investment, the appraiser can obtain a recorder that has ample memory and is built to last.

Recorders that are well suited to the task include the Olympus DM-2, a new model featuring an easy to navigate color LCD screen, and 4GB of memory for up to 977 hours of recording time.

                                                                        


Additional Information on the Olympus DM-2 is available here, or by clicking the picture above.