Hello, Conn-Comp is pleased to announce a modern redesign of the existing website that was released on May 27. The new website improves usability, query options, and expands our data offering for each sale record. 

We greatly value the appraisal community as a customer base and as a resource for real estate innovation. The intent of this article is to give the appraisal and real estate community information regarding how our website will be changing and to open a new dialog regarding future ideas. Appraisers and brokers are our most valuable customers and we want to learn from our users about new ideas. The remainder of this article will focus on upcoming changes to the website that are already developed. However, we would like our users to contact us with ideas they would like to see implemented for our next site design version that will likely come out in the 2019 calendar year. Here are some things to look for in our new redesign.

Query Design: We have focused on maintaining our simple, yet effective query interface while increasing query options. New options to query by include: land: building ratio, number of units, sale price per unit, year built, and sale price per square foot. Users will also be able to reliably conduct queries while selecting multiple property types at once. All existing query options will carry over to the new site. 

Data Available for Sale Records: We are maintaining our existing data offering that we gather for sale records. However, we have added financing information for both building sales and land sales. Financing information gathered will include the name of the mortgagee, principal of the loan, commencement date, initial interest rate, maturity date, and a classification of whether the loan is fixed or variable. As a result, users will be aware of properties that have sold with seller financing before verifying sales and municipal research. To certain users, query capability with respect to mortgage information will be available. Map technology has been integrated for building sales that places a pin representing the property location within a map graphic that can be converted to Google Maps or Bing Maps with a mouse click. Additionally, each building and land sale now includes a direct link to the online assessor database and municipal GIS system. These accessory tools will allow our users to research properties faster and with less effort. 

Usability: The usability of the website has been greatly improved. The site has been redesigned in a modern programming language that will provide an environment for future innovation. The website works seamlessly across all browser types and is compatible with touch screen use on mobile devices. The overall appearance and feel of the site is modern, however many of the existing tools and functions in the existing site are still available. 

Printing has been improved with PDF technology directly from within the website. This is an important upgrade because users will be able to save custom queries in a pdf and print quality is improved. PDFs of comparable sale selections can be emailed to clients and other market participants.

All of the same functions such as export to excel, summary view, are still be available to users. The summary view, however, has been improved to include on-the-fly storability by clicking column headers. This will allow users to sort and analyze large amounts of data quickly right from within the site. Export to excel has also been improved with more data fields added to the results populated. The query interface has been improved with a “clear query function”. 

Payment: All users now can pay by credit card via a PayPal Portal built within the site. 

The new website is complete and will make a difference in your customer experience. You should find the site more compatible with modern technology and experience improved functionality. However, our company wants to hear from you regarding new ideas and possible innovations for future versions. 

It is our absolute goal to continually improving the customer experience, and we value the opinions of our customers the most. Opinions from appraisers, brokers, and investors are welcome and would be greatly appreciated. We want to thank our users that have been loyal customers for 27 years. 

We would appreciate if you could contact us with your ideas, because we all want to create a more efficient real estate market. 

Scott Bussey is the founder of Conn. Comp. Sales Data, Inc., Andover, Conn.