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Our Origin Story

· 4 min read
Chase Pursley
Chase Pursley
Founder of Appraisal Inbox

A Little Backstory​

In 2012, I started working as an appraiser at a small firm not long after graduating college with a bachelors in Real Estate and completing my Appraisal Institute trainee courses. Luckily our practice offered the flexibility of working from home (well before it was trendy), which was great when we weren't on the road inspecting properties. However, remote work, combined with frequent travel and a growing team, led to some significant challenges.

The Challenges of All Appraisal Practices​

As appraisers, we often found ourselves asking a huge number of questions:

1. Scheduling and Workload Management​

  • When's my next inspection?
  • Which reports are due this week?
  • What's our current capacity? Can we take on more orders?
  • How does our workload vary seasonally?

2. Order Status and Tracking​

  • What's the current status of this order?
  • Who's handling that appraisal?
  • What are the client's specific report requirements?
  • Where can I find the property owner's contact information?

3. Performance Metrics​

  • What's our average turnaround?
  • What's the turnaround time for a particular appraiser?
  • How often are we meeting (or missing) client deadlines?
  • Which appraisers are most efficient with specific property types?

4. Quality Control​

  • How many revisions are we doing per report on average?
  • What percentage of our reports require revision requests?
  • Which appraisers have the fewest revisions?

5. Financial Management​

  • Who still owes us money?
  • How did our last quarter performance look?
  • Are our fees increasing over time?
  • What's our average fee by appraisal or property type?
  • What's our average cost per appraisal (including overhead)?

6. Business Development and Market Analysis​

  • How many of our bids are we winning?
  • Which clients provide the most consistent work?
  • How many new clients have we acquired in the last quarter?
  • How does our pricing compare to local competitors?
  • How many orders did we decline last month, and why?

7. Property and Geographic Analysis​

  • Have we appraised any nearby properties?
  • What types of properties are we appraising most frequently?
  • Are there geographic areas where we're particularly strong or weak?
  • What's the breakdown of residential vs. commercial assignments?

The Quest for Better Appraisal Software​

My first attempt at solving this problem was creating a "super" job-log using Microsoft Excel. While it worked initially, the file grew unwieldy over time. Plus, sharing updates meant constantly emailing the spreadsheet back and forth among team members. It just wasn't efficient.

Realizing there had to be a better way, I began searching for existing appraisal software solutions. I tried various options, including:

  1. Software specifically designed for appraisers
  2. General project management tools
  3. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems

Unfortunately, none of these options quite fit the bill. The appraiser-specific software was outdated and lacked team collaboration features. The general-purpose tools weren't tailored enough to our industry's needs. Most importantly, they were all too complex for our team to adopt and use consistently.

Building a Better Appraisal Management Tool​

Frustrated with the lack of suitable options, I decided to create my own solution. This was the birth of Appraisal Inbox (originally known as Appraisal Flow). At first, it was just for our internal use, but conversations with other appraisers revealed that the entire industry was grappling with similar challenges.

Over the years, we've continually improved and added features based on feedback from our users. The result is a comprehensive appraisal software solution that addresses the real needs of appraisal teams.

Designed by Appraisers, for Appraisers​

Today, Appraisal Inbox offers a range of features to boost appraiser productivity and streamline order management:

  • Centralized order tracking
  • Team collaboration tools
  • Client requirement management
  • Financial reporting
  • Performance analytics
  • Mobile-friendly interface for on-the-go access

Whether you're looking to move beyond spreadsheets, replace complicated software, or implement your first appraisal order management system, Appraisal Inbox is designed to meet your needs. We're confident in our product's ability to save your team time and increase efficiency, which is why we offer a no-contract, cancel-anytime subscription model.

I invite you to join the many satisfied appraisal teams already using Appraisal Inbox to manage their businesses more effectively. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how our appraisal software can benefit your team, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can email me at chase@appraisalinbox.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Chase Pursley
Founder, Appraisal Inbox