ACI AppraisalStudio Tips and Tricks

Use Manage Forms to customize a report’s content and add forms to a report.

1. Click Edit > Manage Forms, or click the Forms icon on the toolbar.
2. Click the plus sign next to FannieMae Final Release March 2005 in the forms pool, and click the plus sign next to Supplemental Addenda.
3. Double-click the Market Conditions Addendum to the Appraisal Report (1004MC) to add the form to the current report.
4. Click Report or Jump on the toolbar to return to report editing mode.

The subject radius is a circle projecting from the subject property out to the furthest comparable property from the subject. The subject radius can be turned on and off as needed through the Options menu in the inRoads setup. The subject radius has eight different fill styles. Solid is the default and the most defining fill style. Solid fill is opaque; water features do not show through solid fill.

When a HighPerFORM report is opened or cloned in ACI AppraisalStudio, the report is automatically converted into the AppraisalStudio format. Once the report has been converted into Appraisal Studio format, it cannot be opened or used in HighPerFORM. Review the converted report in AppraisalStudio as minor changes may occur during the report conversion. Report changes may occur as a result of field length changes, added or removed fields, rearranged fields, etc.

Report Changes from HighPerFORM to AppraisalStudio

• Changes were made to the Invoice.
• Some fields may be outlined in red in a report. Hover the mouse over an outlined field to view the Calc values for the field. Press the F7 key on the keyboard to replace the existing Calc value.
• Additional Comparable pages were enhanced to automatically populate the comparable numbers in the column heading. Comparable numbers are not hard coded on the form image. These fields did not exist in HighPerFORM and could not be converted. They may initially display as blank fields outlined in red. Highlight an outlined field and when the tooltip is displayed, press F7 on the keyboard.
• If skeleton reports are used to create new reports, please review content and enter corrections as needed. In some cases, it may be preferable recreate the skeleton files.

The date created is stored in all reports, including HighPerFORM reports. If undetermined is displayed in the Created Date column on the main report screen, the created date has not been extracted from older reports and placed in the database. To update the database, resynchronize the database.

Synchronize Database

1. Login in to ACI AppraisalStudio as the Administrator.
2. Click View > Options.
3. Click the Administration tab and click Administration Tools.
4. Click the plus sign to the left of Database Utilities.
5. Select Synchronize Database and Document Files, and click Perform Selected Task. When the resynchronization is complete, exit Database Utilities. The Created Date column is populated with report creation date.

Customize the main report screen view by re-arranging columns. To reposition a column, drag and drop the column heading into the new position on the heading bar. Click any column heading to sort listings in ascending/descending order.

WinSketch includes a header on the sketch page. The ACI AppraisalStudio Sketch page has a built-in header, so the WinSketch header is unnecessary. In WinSketch, click the View menu and select/deselect Show Header to toggle the sketch header on/off. To save the sketch header selection for future sketches, click the View menu and select Save Settings on Exit.

When editing a report, a user may access various report modes: adding or removing forms, adding photos, rearranging comps, or editing an addendum. When in an editing mode, press the ESC key on the keyboard to quickly return to normal mode.

Photo thumbnails are found throughout ACI AppraisalStudio. Double-click on any photo thumbnail to view the image in the Enlarged Photograph View. Single-click the image to return to thumbnail view.

The pushpin button on the Quick Entry List dialog is used to hold the dialog's position on the screen. Click the Pushpin button to anchor the Quick Entry List in the current screen position. (Button is pushed in.) Click the Pushpin button again (button is pulled out), and the dialog moves in relation to the currently selected field. Manually clicking and dragging the dialog box to a new position on the screen automatically anchors the Quick Entry List in the new position. (Button is pushed in.) Click the Pushpin button again (button is pulled out), and the dialog moves in relation to the currently selected field.

Jump mode provides an overall view of a report. In Jump mode, all the pages in a report are displayed using best-fit thumbnail logic. Click Edit > Jump to Form, or click the Jump icon on the toolbar, or press Ctrl + F on the keyboard to access Jump mode.

Double-click on a page to quickly jump to the selected page in the report. The specific location double-clicked on the page is where the selected page opens. This can save a lot of time needlessly scrolling around a report.

In Jump Mode, hover the mouse over the top of any page to display the report page title. This feature is handy for distinguishing between similar forms.

The @ symbol (Shift + 2 on the keyboard) is used in the market grid to perform automatic comparable adjustments for site, age, GLA, basement and finished rooms below grade. Click in one of the specified comparable adjustment fields and press the @ key (Shift + 2) on the keyboard) to access the Automatic Comparable Adjustment calculator. Enter the adjustment criteria and click OK. The adjustment is calculated across all comparables. The criteria for the selected adjustment items are retained within the report, and any changes made to the adjustment items automatically triggers a recalculation of the adjustment fields.

Click in one of the comparable adjustment fields and enter a percentage, for example 10%. ACI AppraisalStudio automatically calculates 10% of the sales price/list price for that comparable and places the results in the adjustment field.

In the market grid, it is often helpful to copy information from one property to another. In ACI AppraisalStudio, use the = (equal key on the keyboard) to quickly accomplish these tasks. Click in a comparable field and press the = key on the keyboard. A pop-up reference dialog lists the copy choices. Press the designated hot key and the item is automatically copied. Use the == combination to copy the subject item to all the comparables. The = key only copies single items except when used in the top field in the comparable columns (usually the street address field). In this mode, the reference dialog indicates that all items copy from the subject or selected comparable.

ACI AppraisalStudio includes form panning similar to Adobe® Acrobat. When the mouse pointer is a hand, click and drag the form to scroll through the form quickly without using the standard scroll bars.

Change the form layout from horizontal to vertical scrolling pages using the Vertical Layout or Horizontal Layout option under the View menu.

Some fields may not require a response based on the type of field, or based on the answer to a question. To avoid a red user-overridden field, use N/A or None as the response. The terms are not case sensitive.