Ruby Miles Stroschein, MAI, seasoned agriculture and forestry real estate appraiser, has spent the past ten years developing a cloud-based rural land appraisal application integrated with a suite of USDA maps on ESRI platform and nation-wide assessor data out of a need to efficiently collect, analyze, use & share rural real estate market data for valuations, land management, and valuation workflow management. 90% of the original data collection process has been mechanized with LandValue Solutions (LVS), eliminating the old process of collecting legal, transactional, and physical data on the subject property and comparable sales.
Prior to the development of LVS, an appraiser would:
- Collect information on properties by physically
going to the county assessor’s office to:
- Research and pull files, then copy records to
acquire information such as…
- Owner names and transaction history
- Legal description, assessed value, real estate taxes, land use zone, flood zone, etc.
- Manually write each appraisal report and comparable sale from scratch, entering all the assessor data into a table, typing the legal descriptions, inputting soils data, growing season, elevation, topography, etc.
- Write up comparable sales in word or excel using a 3-ring binder as a database
- Use three to four different web sites to create maps, i.e. web soil survey, FEMA for flood maps, USGS for topo maps, etc.
- Research and pull files, then copy records to
acquire information such as…
With LVS this is all automated. The LVS “Kick-SaaS” application populates the data through an API to assessors’ offices nation-wide and builds accompanying soils, topo, CPU, flood, and cropscape maps through an API to USDA and ESRI mapping. The application then exports the data to an excel and word document report. And just like that, you are done!
Who is LVS for?
While LVS was designed by appraisers for appraisers, LVS allows for exploration of new market opportunities beyond appraisers and lenders, including but not limited to:
a. Realtors can use LVS to complete Broker Price Opinions for CPAs, attorneys, and lenders
b. Forest Management reports and Timber Cruise reports can be generated from LVS
- Attorneys, Land Management Companies, and CPAs can use LVS to manage valuation workflow required for estate planning and estate settlement to establish a new tax basis
- Land Trusts can use LVS to create baseline reports and manage properties in trust
- Lenders and government agencies – state and federal – operating in the natural resources, agricultural and forestry industries are anxious for software such as LVS’ Workflow Management application that automates and tracks the process, allowing collaboration between organizations while maintaining confidentiality and regulatory compliance. No other ag and timber valuation software on today’s market offers the features and benefits offered to these users by LVS’ software.
4 Reasons to Choose LVS
LVS has developed a unique, intuitive software application for the Agriculture and Forestry industries, tailored to the needs of appraisers, land managers, lenders, and government land agencies. Here are 3 reasons why you should use LVS software:
- LVS provides the only cloud-based dynamic software solution on the market that is specifically designed for use by agricultural and forestry lenders and appraisers with the capability of interfacing field and desk work, making the Mesa2 ideal for this environment.
- LVS solves the field data collection by coupling the cloud-based application with data collectors and, so far, stands alone in what is offered to users.
- LVS has its own servers and data storage, allowing for collaboration between users, including an integrated GIS mapping tool.
- Users of LVS are required to make field inspections of properties. To maximize field work, LVS gives users the capability of working on any windows, apple, or android devices outside an office environment to collect field data and use GPS systems to identify property location.
LandValue Solutions is streamlining land valuation, saving time and creating efficiency for all its users. To learn more about what LVS can do for you, contact Austin O’Neill at sales@landvaluecolustions.com or call 208-669-2985.