Macro Program:
This is the internet macro program that we use to get data enhanced lists. Rather than spending an average of 10 cents to 30 cents per property to get enhanced data on real estate properties from commercial sources, you can use this program to get the information at no cost. Based on an average cost of 15 cents per property from commercial sources, this program will pay for itself when you have downloaded 3,400 properties (we do over 500,000 properties per year ourselves). The program does require some minor programming changes for each macro but for those who do not feel comfortable doing that we will do macros for a jurisdiction for $75.00. The macros can be used again and again until such time as the jurisdiction modifies their web site. Not all jurisdictions have public assessor web sites so make sure the jurisdictions you are interested in do have a web site. This program saves us close to $80,000 per year in data acquisition costs. This program can be used for any web site where you need to go repeatedly to download information, not just real estate data. We also use it to review 3,000 websites a month for new tax sales.
Watch a short video about how the macro works!
Mapping Program:
We have tried a number of different mapping programs over the past 13 years and find this one to be the best for those doing tax sales or needing to map many properties at once. The program will read in a list of addresses and find an average of 98% of them. It places the icon on the correct side of the street and in the correct block, unlike some that place them just in the zip code. The real benefit is that you can create a map book of the properties you wish to drive and review, with any scale you wish to have (in concentrated areas we used 1.5 miles as the scale). This program was the primary reason our inspectors were able to average 125 properties per day.