April 17, 2014

Volume 10 - Newsletter 8

Streamlining the Business of Commercial Real Estate

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Tech Support
Contact

Ian Baldwin
Director of Customer Support

G'Day Folks,

My name is Ian Baldwin, the new technician here at RealWired. I am incredibly excited to work with each one of you so that I may make your experience with RealWired as productive as ever. I came from the technical world of Apple, Inc. and if there is one thing they stress at Apple, it's BACKUPS! Backups are crucial to making sure your workflow isn't halted by a sudden loss in data. One of the best "off-site" backup programs that I and our office use is BackBlaze, a cloud based backup which works in unison with your workflow. It's cost friendly at $5/mo and has an unlimited data feature which will benefit those of us who keep everything from 1990 and on. I highly recommend this program for those who don't want the extra stress of wondering if your data is backed up. Stress no more with BackBlaze. Have a great weekend!

Feel free to call us directly at 813-221-0703 or email us at techsupport@realwired.com and we will promptly respond back.

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Past Newsletters

If you missed our prior Newsletters, you can view them by clicking here.

You Don't Know What You Don't Know

Jeff Hicks, MAI
President

Dohring Group RealWired!

A few days after September 11th, a local liberal talk show host and I got into a very heated argument. He said the 3,000+ Americans that died that day were payback pawns for US one-sided foreign policy. He insinuated that "we" had it coming.

I can't recall many times I've been that angry. I'm fairly Zen, but I really wanted to head butt and rip out his carotid artery. He told me I was na�ve and that "I didn't know what I didn't know."

I think his point was that I didn't have his deep understanding of the geo-political nature and historical perspective of US foreign policy. It's a typical liberal knee-jerk response to having an idea that is contrary to their own. I read the Economist often so I don't think I'm obtuse. Don't get me wrong, I'm hugely liberal on social issues, but also uber fiscally conservative. If encouraged, I would probably get a tat of Reagan on my glute.

Art Markman, PhD is a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas who coined the term illusion of explanatory depth, meaning you think you fully understand something that you actually don't. Think of the mechanics of how a computer works and your comprehensive description might start off strong but trail off on specifics, resulting in mumbling something about zeroes and ones.

Discovering your explanatory gaps is essential for innovation, claims Dr. Markman. The tagline for our company is "streamline the business of commercial real estate." I think you inherently know what that means, but the specifics of how you could take your appraisal firm to the next level may be elusive. Doesn't matter if you're a solo appraiser or a huge firm; the mechanics of streamlining processes are the same just amplified with size.

Tom Rath, author of Strength Finder 2.0 states, "an idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges" Let's face it, you probably know how to inspect a subject property, research comps, perform complicated analysis and write a well-supported appraisal report. But perhaps there are things in your appraisal business that you don't really know.

Manager is our appraisal workflow web app http://realwired.com/manager/. I could describe all its features and you would likely nod your head that the benefits are worthwhile. However, unless you actually use it, you truly can't bridge the gap of understanding. Interestingly, when I first started using Manager I didn't know what I didn't know and thought it might be somewhat useful. However, only after the investment of time and use did I realize it's a game changer for my appraisal firm.

Jack Welsh suggests that it's best to "change before you have to." As appraisers, we typically dread change, it's often not in our wheelhouse. But like anything else that's good for you, like exercise and eating well, we will resist until we have to.

Often times it takes a calamity such as a precipitous fall of appraisal volume, ongoing inefficiencies that elevate frustration to a boiling point or loss of appraisal quality control to consider change.

Start asking questions. Seek out teachers, especially if they are outside of our industry. Confucius says, "only the wisest and stupidest of men never change."

If you would like to join a discussion about this topic or Appraisal Best Practices, go to our blog or contact Jeff Hicks.

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