I love Saabs, always have.  Over Christmas with a glass of red wine in my hand, I eBay bid on a 1990 Saab 900 SPG...and surprisingly won.  I then had to get it delivered from its home in Brooklyn to my house in Florida.  I hired a driver, flew him to LaGuardia where he met the seller, completed the paperwork and then drove it to my house in Tampa.  Thankfully the car made the drive.  My wife currently has a 2011 Saab 95, the last model they made since they're now out of business.

So now my driveway strikingly exemplifies old and new technology.  I think both body styles are works of art.  Very different from one another but oddly attractive to me.  The 1990s technology can be a little expensive with repair bills, especially if you pressure clean the engine which I would not recommend.  The newer car, no mechanical issues yet.

So why did I buy a 23-year old car?  Maybe it's just being comfortable with what I know.  I used to have a Saab 900 when I started my appraisal career in 1987.  Admittedly, I don't like change.  However, the years have taught me that when I fight change too much, life has a way to "ding" you.  Maybe not initially but it will find you.  Seek opportunity, not security. A boat in harbor is safe, but in time its bottom will rot out.

Many in the commercial appraisal industry are still driving their "old cars", creating and delivering their appraisal product much the way they did in the late 1980s.  Nothing wrong with that.  However, I guarantee you are being outperformed by more progressive appraisers in your market.  These "newer" appraisers, some of which are fee appraisers that do not own the firm, recognize that tools such as report automation, voice dictation and job workflow software makes their jobs so much easier.  They adopt technology easily and don't fight it.  I am not talking about young wiper-snapper versus old school appraisers, since I know many of the latter group that on an ongoing basis, implement solutions that make them more efficient.

If you haven't already, I recommend you buy a new "car."  The kind of car that will allow you to:

• Track appraisal bid volume and monitor pricing trends
• Produce more consistent appraisal product in a shorter amount of time
• Manage appraisal due dates
• Monitor appraisal production volume for yourself and the office
• Increase control and confidence of your appraisal report flow in your office

It's easy to get discouraged when you try and don't get expected results. Making the effort is, in fact, progress. Change is not an event with an exact start and stop point; it's a process.  Do not set unrealistic expectations.  Give yourself plenty of time to slowly implement new procedures and systems. 

In the end, you really get to keep an essence of your old Saab since it got you to the office (early in your career).  However your new car will allow you to safely drive long distances to your favorite vacation destinations.  Invest money, but more importantly, time for yourself - you're worth it.