WinTOTAL Tutorial TOPIC Page

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1 TOPIC Page Starting WinTOTAL... 2 Appraisal Desktop Overview... 4 Starting a Report... 7 The Order Form... 7 SmartMerge... 9 Contents - Selecting Forms Formfilling Adding Comps to Reports Adding a Sketch Using Images Adding Maps Final Valuation & Signature USPAP Compliant Workfile Delivering your Report What s new in Aurora... 28

2 Welcome to WinTOTAL Aurora is the 5 th generation of WinTOTAL the software used for more appraisals than all others combined. This Tutorial gives you an overview of WinTOTAL Aurora s features from start to finish. Conventions in this Guide Before we get started with the program, let s cover a few of the conventions used throughout this guide to describe the processes you use as you work in WinTOTAL Aurora. Click, double-click and right-click Most items are activated with a single click. If a double-click is necessary, this guide tells you. To right-click, use the button on the right side of your mouse. Menus Menus are at the top of the window throughout WinTOTAL. They are labeled File, Edit, and other labels that provide a general indication of what each menu contains. The last menu is the Help menu which gives you access to a searchable index of topics. PowerView Functions in WinTOTAL are arranged in screens called PowerViews. When a report is open, you may notice buttons at the top labeled Order, Form, Comps, and other labels to indicate what functions each of these PowerViews contain. Simply click any of these buttons to switch PowerViews and address the corresponding sections of your report. Select When this guide tells you to select something, it means to click it once. Often, an item that has been selected appears to be highlighted to indicate that you have selected it. Welcome to WinTOTAL may notice these throughout WinTOTAL, particularly as you fill out your forms. Links, URL s, web addresses, and hyperlinks Each of these items refer to nearly the same thing. Links and hyperlinks are actually just words that you can click to link to another program, website, or other content. Typically, these links are indicated by their appearance as they are often blue and underlined. Web addresses and URL s refer to the address connected to the hyperlink. For instance, a link to our Video Library website, would take you to the web address or URL of References to the WinTOTAL User s Guide As this guide is intended to get you started in WinTOTAL Aurora, it doesn t contain the exhaustive list of explanations, how-to s, and technical explanations that the WinTOTAL User s Guide does. To help you access content within the User s Guide that relates to a topic discussed in this guide, we ve included references to specific sections of the WinTOTAL User s Guide throughout this guide. To access the WinTOTAL User s Guide, from within an appraisal, click the Help menu and select Contents to browse through the entire User s Guide for pertinent answers to your questions. To see any of these features in action, just visit to watch our videos on each feature! Window/Dialog Throughout this guide, we use the terms window and dialog when referring to the current active screen. Tabs Some windows within WinTOTAL have tabs to help you navigate through the content in the window. Tabs are conceptually the same in WinTOTAL as tabs you might find on the manila folders that you d use to file physical copies of important documents. You Starting WinTOTAL By now, you ve probably started WinTOTAL at least once. If not, you simply need to click the Windows Start menu, and browse through your list of programs for WinTOTAL. When you find it, just click Appraisal Desktop to open your File Cabinet and begin working in WinTOTAL. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Welcome to WinTOTAL Rev Page 2

3 Starting WinTOTAL As you begin working in WinTOTAL, at various times, it may be necessary to perform various procedures such as an Instant Customer Update, or you may be prompted with special instructions. We know your time is valuable, so we won t waste your time with unnecessary pop-ups and messages. But when we do prompt you, take the time to read through the messages so that you can stay informed about the latest changes and keep WinTOTAL working properly. First Time: Creating WinTOTAL Users The first time you start WinTOTAL, you re prompted to setup some users so that WinTOTAL can keep track of your user-specific settings. This is particularly important if you re in a multi-appraiser office, but even as a one-man shop, it s important to quickly setup a user so that WinTOTAL can remember relevant information about you. Note: If you ve upgraded from WinTOTAL Athena to WinTOTAL Aurora, these steps won t apply to you as you should already have working user profiles set up. 1. When you first start WinTOTAL, you re prompted with a screen containing an empty list of users. 2. Since we need to add you as a user, click Add. Another window appears prompting you for a WinTOTAL username, your digital signature file, and a digital seal if you wish to use one. 3. Type a username that you can remember into the WinTOTAL Username box. For all practical purposes, we recommend typing your first and last name as your username. 4. Next, since we need a signature file to be able to sign your report, let s add your digital signature. Click Browse to the right of the window and browse to the location on your computer where you ve stored your digital signature file. Use the sample form to correctly place your digital signature so that it appears in the right location when you sign your reports. 5. When you find your signature file, click Open to add it to your WinTOTAL profile. 6. Your digital signature appears in the signature block of the sample form to the left. If it s not centered properly, just click it and drag it to an appropriate location on your form. 7. Now, if you d like to password protect your signature so that only you can sign your appraisals with it, just click Password protect my signature above the sample form, type a password, and click OK to save it. 8. When you re finished, click OK to save your WinTOTAL user profile. WinTOTAL automatically sets this profile as active so you can just click OK to continue into WinTOTAL or if you are the primary user on your computer, you can check the box to Always use this username and then click OK to continue into WinTOTAL. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Starting WinTOTAL Rev Page 3

4 First Time: Integrating with Your XSite 1. Click Options and then Configure WinTOTAL Settings. 2. Click net.x in the toolbar at the top. Appraisal Desktop Overview appearance, it s similar to Windows Explorer with your folders appearing to the left and your files to the right. The File Cabinet provides an appraiser specific file management tool that allows you to both manage your files and modify them without even opening them. 3. Then, click the Edit link to the right of the XSite field to enter your XSite Username and Password. Your XSite information is specific to your WinTOTAL user profile. The net effect is that network users can plug in their individual XSite logins so they only work with orders assigned to them. If you re a single user, mark the option to save your password. However, appraisers in a multi-user office may wish to leave that disabled, requiring password entry when WinTOTAL needs to talk to your XSite. If you re not the admin user for the XSite, the Accounting and Order Management option under XSite User Management must be enabled. 4. Click OK to save your information and then click Save to accept your new configuration. Appraisal Desktop Overview Typically when you start WinTOTAL, you see the Appraisal Desktop before anything else, so we ll give you a brief description of its features here before diving into a new report. The Appraisal Desktop is a central location for file management, report tracking, order and contact management, support solutions and many more important functions. The different areas or Views of the Appraisal Desktop are accessible by clicking their respective icons in the upper right corner of the window. Use the buttons in the toolbar to manipulate your appraisal reports or use the buttons in the upper right corner to navigate between different PowerViews in the Appraisal Desktop. Some of the many functions you may find useful are: Look for - This lets you search the File Cabinet for specific files based on the contents of the file. For instance, if you are searching for a property at 123 Main Street, you d just type 123 Main Street in the Look for field and click Find now to quickly find your file. File Cabinet The File Cabinet or Files PowerView is where you access and manage your report files whether you re acknowledging a new order, adding DirectFax documents to a report, or creating a new report file to use. In Clone Creates an exact copy of your report and names it with a name you specify. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Appraisal Desktop Overview Rev Page 4

5 Appraisal Desktop Overview Move/Copy - This tool let s you easily copy or move the selected file(s) to another folder or disk. You can also drag and drop files into other folders. WinTOTAL format. See Converting Competitor Files in the Tools chapter of the WinTOTAL User s Guide for more details. Print - Without opening a file, you can send it to your printer, print its invoice, or print a list of all the reports in your File Cabinet with just the click of a button. Send - WinTOTAL lets you send files electronically so that you don t need to manually open a separate program to create an e- mail message. Just select a file, click Send and follow the prompts until your report has been delivered. Or you can change your default delivery method so you can send reports to your XSite by default instead of defaulting to standard . As you can tell, the File Cabinet is extremely powerful and there s much more to it than we re covering here. See Files PowerView in the Appraisal Desktop chapter of the WinTOTAL User s Guide for more details. First Time: Converting your Old Reports The first time you access your File Cabinet, it may not appear to have any reports in it. So you can continue working with your old reports and import the properties from your previous appraisals into your Comps Database, we need to pull in your old reports. If you used WinTOTAL Athena prior to installing WinTOTAL Aurora, just click each folder in your File Cabinet so WinTOTAL can automatically pull in your old reports. Then, just begin using your File Cabinet as usual. As you open your old reports, WinTOTAL automatically converts them to Aurora format so that you don't have to manually convert them from the old Athena format to the new Aurora version. If you used a competitor s software prior to installing Aurora, just choose Convert Competitor Files from the Options menu and follow the prompts in the WinTOTAL Conversion Wizard to convert your files to Tracking Folders The new Tracking folders in the Appraisal Desktop provide a simple way to manage and track your appraisal orders. If you ve been using the XSite Order Manager to manage and deliver your appraisal orders, you ll be pleased to see that all of the tools you re already familiar with are now fully functional in the Files PowerView of the Appraisal Desktop. Most importantly, since these features are now in WinTOTAL, when you synchronize WinTOTAL with your XSite, it downloads your new orders and automatically creates new files in your File Cabinet with all the orders data. Here are a few other things you can do with Tracking folders and the XSite Order Manager integration now in WinTOTAL: Acknowledge new orders Set status on orders Synchronize your order list with your XSite Edit each order s, order form View your orders by status using Tracking folders And more First Time: Setting Tracking Rules To get the most out of your Tracking folders, you should setup Tracking rules to filter out reports that you re no longer working. Using your Appraisal Desktop s Tracking rules, you can filter the reports that appear in your Tracking folders so that you only see orders that are still relevant to your business preventing you from having to wade through WinTOTAL Tutorial - Appraisal Desktop Overview Rev Page 5

6 Appraisal Desktop Overview lists of old orders to find the orders you really need to address. To set your Tracking rules: 1. Click Options, Tracking Rules in the menus in the Appraisal Desktop. 2. When the Tracking Rules screen appears, check the box to exclude reports older than a certain date and then specify a cut off date for your Tracking filter. 3. Next, if you want to exclude an entire folder in your File Cabinet from your Tracking view, just click the Select folders link and check any folders you want to exclude. reports are not filtered from your view. Make sure you choose a date for WinTOTAL to reference from the available text box, so it knows which Athena reports to mark as Completed and which to mark as In Progress. 5. Finally, click OK to apply your Tracking rules. Contacts WinTOTAL saves you from having to retype the names of your clients and appraisers for each report by using the information you supply in the Contacts section of the Appraisal Desktop. Basically it s a powerful address book that synchronizes with your XSite to ensure that you always have the same list of contacts available to you. Of course, it s not only an address book and a way to eliminate repeated data entry, but it s also essential to all the billing and reporting functions in your Appraiser XSite. You can manage and view both contacts and companies and find a contact easily using the alphabetical list of links across the top. To add a new contact or company, click Add and fill out the fields in the Contact Details window. Search for a contact using the same Look for features we described in the File Cabinet. Set your Tracking Rules to filter out old reports from your Tracking folders and focus on only active orders. 4. If you ve previously been using WinTOTAL Athena, you also need to specify how you want WinTOTAL to address reports created with WinTOTAL Athena. Mark the Automatically show all Athena reports as Completed option to automatically filter out all Athena reports from your Tracking view and then check the Except for those reports box to ensure that active Athena generation See Contacts in the Appraisal Desktop chapter of the WinTOTAL User s Guide for more details. Status & Synchronization Tools Using WinTOTAL s built-in status messaging tools that become active when you integrate with your XSite, you can proactively send messages to your clients so they always know the status of their orders without feeling the need to call. To update the status of a report 1. Click the order in the Appraisal Desktop. 2. Click Tracking Status in the toolbar. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Appraisal Desktop Overview Rev Page 6

7 3. Choose a status from the list provided, indicate whether you want to notify your client(s) by , and type a message if desired. 4. Click Send Now to send your message now, or Send Later to add it to the synchronization queue. 5. When you re ready to sync WinTOTAL with your XSite, just click net.x Connect in the Appraisal Desktop toolbar and indicate which items you want to synchronize. For more information on Setting Status on your reports and Synchronizing WinTOTAL with your XSite, see the Setting Status on Reports and Synchronizing with net.x Connect sections of the WinTOTAL user s guide. Starting a Report Now, that you ve seen our Appraisal Desktop, let s dive right into an appraisal report. There are two primary places from which to launch a new, blank appraisal report: Appraisal Desktop Select the folder you d like your new report stored in and click New in the toolbar. WinTOTAL opens and presents you with a new report order form. WinTOTAL In WinTOTAL, click New in the toolbar. Or, choose File, New. WinTOTAL presents you with a new report order form. The Order Form Starting a Report Regardless of the method you use to create the new report, you re automatically taken to the Order PowerView. This replaces the Requester found in previous versions of WinTOTAL and presents several advantages. Primarily, since this is a form, you can build your own QuickLists and use them to assist you in filling out any new order request. Also, the order form can be printed just like any other form in your report. Here are a few of the other benefits to the new order form method: It s easier for us to update and modify the order form when necessary. You can get a map and driving directions from your office to the subject property on the fly as you re filling out the order form. Using the geocoding feature, you can add latitude and longitude information to the report so you can now search for properties or appraisals by subject location later. Finally, you can use the order form in conjunction with your Appraiser XSite to keep both up to date with the same list of orders and contacts. In addition, the order form in the Order PowerView is actually a dynamic form that changes to meet your needs. Before you begin filling out your order form, let s customize the form per your needs. To customize the order form, simply check the boxes for the corresponding customizations in the Options pane on the left. Here s a brief description of each of the options to help you decide which are best for you. Just click the New button to create a new report. Order Map Automatically adds a map to your order form as you fill out the order With Directions If you opted to include a map in your order form, checking this option adds directions from your office or an alternate location to the subject property to your order form as well. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Starting a Report Rev Page 7

8 The Order Form Extended Contacts Adds new sections to your order form permitting you to add detailed information about all of your contacts to it. Extended Billing Adds a Billing section to your order form to help you track billing and payment for your report. Extended Info Adds another section to your order form allowing you to add notes and a wealth of other information about the subject property. Auto Internal Order WinTOTAL automatically generates an order number for each new report when this option is selected. To specify the format of the numbering, click on the link and set your preferences in the screen that appears. See Automatic Internal Order Numbering in the Order PowerView chapter of the WinTOTAL User s Guide for more details. FEMA/Census Data Automatically adds IDC data to the appropriate fields in your report as you fill out your order form. XSite Integration If you have an Appraiser XSite and want to keep your XSite order list in sync with WinTOTAL, just mark this option and enter your XSite login information in the window that appears. Once you ve selected all the options that meet your needs, we can continue filling out your order form. If you re using a high speed internet connection, we recommend using Order Map, With Directions, Geocoded Properties, FEMA/Census Data, and, if you re in a flood prone area, InterFlood Map. First Time: Configuring Your Office Settings Before you begin filling out your order form, let s configure your office settings so that WinTOTAL can help you quickly fill out data relative to your office. To configure your office settings in WinTOTAL: 1. Choose Change office settings from the Options menu in WinTOTAL. 2. When the Office Settings screen appears, just fill out the details about your office in the fields provided. 3. When you get to the Latitude and Longitude fields, we recommend using the Get lat/lon for me link to automatically retrieve your office s coordinates from the Internet. 4. If you re using an Appraiser XSite, make sure you also click the Edit my XSite information link at the bottom of the screen to enter your XSite Username and Password. When you re finished, click OK to save your office settings and begin filling out your order form. Filling Out the Order Form Once you ve selected your order form options, you can continue building your new report within the order form. Here s how: 1. First, type a description for this report in the Report Description box and press Tab or Enter to move to the next field. 2. Next, fill out the Assignment Information section. Click the icon to select an appraiser from your Contacts Database. Or, click the icon to search for an appraiser in your Contacts Database, or add a new one. 3. When the icon appears in a field, click it to designate that the content of that field is the same as either the Internal Order, Lender WinTOTAL Tutorial - The Order Form Rev Page 8

9 SmartMerge Forms & Data (formerly cloning) Case, Client File or FHA/VA case numbers entered in the Tracking section of the order form. 4. Where necessary, use the icon to select a date from a pop-up calendar or the icon to add your appointments to your Outlook or XSites calendar. 5. If you opted to use the Order Map and With directions options, a map and directions to the subject property are automatically added for you as you complete your order form. Likewise, if you selected the FEMA/Census data option, the corresponding data is automatically added to your report before you ever add your first form. Otherwise use the icon to insert a location map, flood, and census data into your report. minimum, you enter an address in the Property Address field, as well as the City, State and Zip Code fields before continuing on with your report. SmartMerge Forms & Data (formerly cloning) Now that the order form is complete, you can merge data and forms in from an existing report or template. Aurora s SmartMerge function takes the place of cloning in older versions of WinTOTAL, but is actually much more powerful. WinTOTAL now allows you to merge data from individual sections of forms, as well as the whole form or the whole report. For example, if you want to bring in the Neighborhood section of a URAR from another report without bringing the rest of the data in the URAR, it s no problem for Aurora s SmartMerge feature. If you have been using WinTOTAL Athena, Athena s cloning features are still in Aurora too, but they re limited to creating exact copies or clones of the report(s) you specify. Icons are strategically located throughout your forms to help you quickly retrieve, contact data, map, data, and various other info automatically. 6. Continue filling out the order form as necessary. While you need not address every field in your order form, we recommend that at a With WinTOTAL s SmartMerge utility, you can now merge individual sections from your old reports into any appraisal. WinTOTAL Tutorial - SmartMerge Forms & Data (formerly cloning) Rev Page 9

10 Contents - Selecting Forms Also, you can merge data into your report at any time from within WinTOTAL using SmartMerge, whereas cloning can only be done as you begin your report. For practical purposes, we recommend using SmartMerge instead of cloning as it saves you time while it does the work the way it should be done. To use SmartMerge: 1. Click Merge at the top of the Order PowerView. 2. If necessary, use the Look for field to locate an appropriate older appraisal. Or, click your templates folder in the Folders pane and select the desired template. 3. Choose to either merge the Entire report or just Selected forms in the report by marking the corresponding option. If you chose Entire report, skip to the next step. Otherwise, the forms contained within the selected report are displayed below the file list. Double-click each form in this box to select or deselect it for inclusion in your new report. Notice that you can even merge in entire subsections of each form such as the Neighborhood section of a URAR. Select the forms or sections you d like to merge in to this report or click Mark All to select all of the forms in the report. Clone The Clone option allows you to make an exact duplicate of the older report. Any information you entered in the order form is overwritten with the data from the older report. Note: You ONLY want to use this button if you want to create an EXACT duplicate of another report. Again, all the data you ve entered into a report is overwritten when you use Clone option. Contents - Selecting Forms If you used the merge feature, your report may already include all of the necessary forms. If you still need to add forms, or if you want to add additional forms: 1. Click the Contents button in the toolbar. 4. When all options are set, click one of the available buttons at the top of the window to execute the process and return to the Order Powerview. Here s a brief description of what each button does. Merge forms AND data Merges the older report s forms or sections, as well as the data in them into your current report. Any fields you ve already completed in the order form are retained in the new merged report. Merge in forms only If all you want is the forms from the older report, but no data so that you simply retain the same structure in this report as the report you selected, just click this button. Using WinTOTAL s Contents tool, you can easily add, remove, rearrange, or rename the forms in your report. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Contents - Selecting Forms Rev Page 10

11 2. From the Contents window, use the Find field above the Available forms column to locate the proper form. Or, scroll through the available forms in the window on the left side. Forms are grouped into folders by type. Double-click any folder to expand it and show the available forms. 3. At the top of the list is the Custom Forms folder. This holds the forms you use most often and its contents can be customized by clicking Click to customize. 4. When you locate a desired form, double-click it to add it to your report, or click and drag it across to the Forms in my report column. 5. On right side, the forms currently in your report are displayed. You can change the order of these forms by dragging them up and down the list or by using the Move Up and Move Down links. 6. To remove a form from your report, select the form and click Delete. Note: Do not double-click the form if you simply want to remove it from your report. Double-clicking a form switches WinTOTAL to the Forms PowerView and opens that form for editing. 7. If desired, you can even change the name of this form for your new report. To do so, select the form and click Rename. Type a new name and then click OK. Keep in mind that renaming the form here does not affect the default form name, but it is reflected in any future reports you may create using this report in the Merge process. 8. At the bottom of the window is the option to keep the Contents window open even after you click OK. If you have dual monitors or a particularly large display area, you may want to select this option. 9. Click OK to return to the order form. Formfilling Formfilling Now, we re ready to begin filling out your report. To begin filling out your forms, click Forms at the top of the screen. This takes you to the top of the major form you ve chosen for your report. You re now ready to employ all of the other features in WinTOTAL to complete and deliver your report! Let s dive right in! Filling Out Your Forms Functionally, filling out your appraisal forms is much the same as filling out any other type of form or writing up a document in a standard word processor. As you begin filling out your forms, we recommend using QuickLists and the icons that periodically appear throughout your forms to speed up the formfilling process. In addition, you may notice that WinTOTAL continues to carry the information you enter into your forms forward into the minor forms that you ve added to your report and automatically completes any basic math necessary throughout the forms to reduce the time you spend entering recurring data. In this section, we cover a number of tools that are available in WinTOTAL to help you speed up the formfilling process. While you may not use all of them, take a look through the list and you may find several options that will significantly reduce the amount of time you have to spend filling out your forms. Navigating Your Forms In WinTOTAL, we ve provided a variety of ways to help you quickly surf through your report s forms to find the forms you need and complete them quickly. While you can always scroll vertically through all the forms in your report, we describe some other ways to easily navigate through your forms in this section. In addition, we ve simplified the process of navigating back and forth between PowerViews. You can now use Back and Forward WinTOTAL Tutorial - Formfilling Rev Page 11

12 Formfilling buttons in WinTOTAL to navigate backward and forward between the PowerViews you visit as you complete your report just like your Internet browser! Using the Expand & Collapse Buttons 1. In the Forms PowerView, from the toolbar, click the icon to collapse all the forms in your report. 2. Find the report you need to modify and click anywhere in the header. That form expands, allowing you to modify it, while all other forms stay collapsed. 3. Click the icon to expand all of the forms in your report to their full size. Now, use the scroll bar on the right, or your mouse s scroll wheel to move down through the report. Using the Jump to Forms Button 1. Click the Jump to forms button. 2. Now, click on one of the supporting forms in the report. 3. As the page loads, notice how information from your major form has already transferred to it automatically. 4. Jump back to the main form by clicking on the Jump to forms button and then selecting it. 5. Repeat this process to move between all your forms in WinTOTAL. Data Entry Basics Here are a few tips when typing into forms. Since WinTOTAL automatically wraps text in multi-line fields, you won t need to press Enter when you reach the end of a line in a multi-line field. WinTOTAL never lets you type more into a field than what you can print. A green arrow next to a field means the text can t be displayed due to differences in video driver and printer driver resolutions, but whenever you see this type of arrow, you can still print the report. A red arrow means there is more text entered than what your printer can fit into the report meaning that the content in that field can t be printed correctly. To check a checkbox, press the Space Bar or just click in the field. Use Shift+Enter to back up one field. Use Tab to emulate a typewriter by moving right one field. Use Enter to move to the next logical field in the form. Hint: Since Tab only moves you horizontally across forms until the end of the form is reached like a typewriter and your forms may not necessarily follow this format, we recommend using Enter instead of Tab to move from one field to the next as you complete your forms. WinTOTAL remembers each field s last ten entries to help you fill your forms more quickly, but you can also create a list of common responses with QuickLists. See next section in this guide for more information about QuickLists. Using QuickLists QuickLists comprise your personalized library of standard comments. They give you one-click access to all your most commonly used entries whether you need them to complete singe fields, whole sections, or even an entire form. We highly recommend using QuickLists both to speed up the formfilling process and to provide reusable text in your forms. Here s how! Creating Single Field Comments You can easily create QuickList comments by first typing the information on the form and then saving the text. You can even build your database from old reports. Here s how you add a comment to your QuickLists: 1. Go to any field where you have a comment you d like to add to your QuickLists or type a new comment in an available field on any form. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Formfilling Rev Page 12

13 2. Double-click <new> in the QuickLists pane on the left. Note: If you don t see the QuickLists pane on the left of your screen, just press F9 so that it appears. 3. When the Add to QuickList window appears, WinTOTAL suggests a name for your comment in the QuickList Name field. If you re comfortable with the suggested name, just click OK. Otherwise, type a name for your comment, keeping in mind that this is just the name for your QuickList entry and not the actual comment itself. When you ve typed a name you re comfortable with, just click OK. Now, you should see the name of your QuickList appear in your QuickLists pane on the left whenever you access that field within a form. In addition, when you use QuickLists for fields in the comps grid, they are even available across all the comps in your report. Formfilling Multi-field Comments for Entire Sections If you want to create a multi-field QuickList entry, enter the information you want for a comment in a group of contiguous or non-contiguous fields. A good example is the Neighborhood section of the URAR. If all the fields in your entry are contiguous: 1. Click in the section s last field. For instance, the comments for market conditions in the Neighborhood section. 2. Hold down Shift, and then click the first field in your entry. 3. Now, all of the fields between and including the first and last fields should be highlighted. At this point you can release the Shift key. Note: You can duplicate this highlighting effect by clicking and dragging your cursor through all the fields you want to save. 4. Double-click<new> in the QuickLists panel on the left side of the window. 5. Enter in a more appropriate name in the QuickList Name field and click OK. If the fields for your multi-field QuickList entry are not contiguous, repeat the same process outlined above but instead of clicking the first and last fields of your entry while pressing Shift, just press and hold Ctrl and then click each of the individual fields you d like to add to your QuickList comment. QuickLists are always accessible as you fill out your forms to make the formfilling process as simple as the click of a button. Now, when you move into the first field of your QuickList entry, you can see the name of QuickList entry appear in your QuickLists pane on the left. QuickLists Tips As you move from field to field, the list of comments at the bottom of the Forms PowerView changes to reflect entries tied to a particular field. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Formfilling Rev Page 13

14 Formfilling Your top nine responses are assigned a hot key, Alt+1 to Alt+9. Use these hot keys, or double-click the individual comments to quickly insert them into your report. By clicking All in the QuickLists pane, you can see a list of all your QuickLists comments including comments for all fields and comments that may not be tied to any particular field. This makes it easy to use comments in the addenda writer or in a form different from the one where the comment was created. Click Quick to switch back to a list of entries that apply to the currently selected field. Click the A-Z icon to the upper left of the QuickLists pane to alphabetically sort your QuickLists. Right-click a QuickList entry and choose Resequence QuickList from the menu to manually reorder your QuickLists. Click the Options link in the QuickLists pane to customize your QuickLists preferences. To chain together comments instead of replacing the entire text in a field, right click over an entry and choose the Append option from the fly-out menu. Recent Responses In addition to using QuickLists, WinTOTAL also remembers the last ten entries you typed into a particular field. This feature is easily accessible through the down arrows that appear throughout the form any time a field contains recent response data. While this is a useful tool, it s far less powerful than QuickLists and can actually cause you to take longer to complete your report than it would with QuickLists. For that reason, we highly recommend using QuickLists instead of recent responses. Nonetheless, here s how you d use WinTOTAL s recent responses feature: 1. Type something into any field and then leave the field. 2. Go back to the field, and an arrow for a drop-down list appears. 3. Click the arrow and you can see your last entry. You can also press Alt+Down Arrow to access the list. 4. Right-click the drop-down list and you re given the option to remove the entry, edit it, add it to the QuickList or use it in the given field. Swapping Your QuickLists & Recent Responses While the standard QuickLists interface is far more efficient as a tool to help you quickly complete your appraisal report, we have also provided one more way to access them. Since the recent responses data regularly changes as you continue to work in WinTOTAL, you can now swap the recent response data that usually appears in the drop-down menus for each field with QuickList data to ensure that your QuickLists are always available to you, even in the drop-down menus. To do so: 1. Choose the Configure WinTOTAL settings option from the Options menu inside of WinTOTAL. 2. Next, click Forms when the WinTOTAL Configuration Options screen appears. 3. Finally, switch the Fill drop-down lists with setting from Recent Responses to QuickLists and click Save in the upper left corner to save your new setting. Text Overflow As you fill out your forms, you may notice that periodically you re prompted about what to do with data that does not fit into a field on your form. Thankfully, WinTOTAL knows what to do with this extra data - so, we automatically prompt you about inserting this data into an addendum for you. After all, that s what addenda are for! To take advantage of this feature, just type your comments into any multi-line field. If you exceed the space provided, the Text Overflow Options screen appears to ask you how to handle the extra text. Just choose whether you prefer to move all the text in the field into the addendum, replacing it with a reference to the addendum or just the overflow text by marking the WinTOTAL Tutorial - Formfilling Rev Page 14

15 corresponding option. Notice that you can also set WinTOTAL to automatically do this with every overflow field in the future rather than prompting you, by using the options at the bottom of the field as well. Once you ve made your choices, just click OK to implement them. Changing the Default Font for All Data Although the default font for WinTOTAL data is Arial 9pt and is usually sufficient for most appraisers, if you wish to make it something different for all data in all reports: 1. Click the Forms menu and select Default data fonts. 2. Then, choose Set default form data font from the menu. 3. Choose the font and style, and size you want from the standard Windows Font screen. 4. When you re finished, click OK. WinTOTAL then updates your current report. Note that all existing reports print and display with this new font as well. Field Formatting & Numeric Fields In WinTOTAL forms, the fields are pre-formatted to meet most appraisers preferences, but the formatting is also customizable. As you move through the form, notice the buttons in the formatting bar appear pressed or un-pressed, depending on the formatting in the current field. For example, if you move to a numeric field such as the RE Taxes field, the numeric options appear as if they ve been pressed. While in a field, you can apply/remove justification and formatting by clicking the buttons on the formatting bar. If you need to enter text in a numeric field, type the text, and click the 123 button in the formatting bar. A field that is numbers only can have that setting overridden by pressing F6 before Enter to leave the field. Formfilling Permanent Field Formatting As you change formatting options with the formatting toolbar you may decide that you d like your new options to be saved as the default for all new data files. If you d like to update WinTOTAL s default field formatting: 1. Go to each field you wish to customize and apply the necessary formatting by clicking on the formatting buttons. 2. Click the Forms menu, and choose Default field formats. 3. Next, click Save formats as new default in the fly-out menu. 4. When you re prompted with a confirmation, confirm by clicking OK. QuickNotes As you re completing your report, if you need to make some comments about a section in the report for your supervisory appraiser or if you re reviewing a trainee appraiser s work, just use WinTOTAL s QuickNotes. To place a QuickNote, just click one of the balloon icons at the toolbar at the top of the screen and then click anywhere on your report to place the QuickNote. Once the QuickNote appears, just type your comments and feel free to close the QuickNote by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner when you re finished. QuickNote types are as follows: Standard (Yellow) Needs Review (Red) WinTOTAL Tutorial - Formfilling Rev Page 15

16 Reviewed (Green) Adding Comps to your Report As we mentioned earlier, one of the first things you may notice about the new Comps PowerView is the side-by-side comps grid setup we ve added to WinTOTAL to make it easier to add comps data to your reports. This gives you easy access to all your comps at once - whether it s 3 or 9 - allowing you to easily compare each comp to the subject property. To complete your comps, you can continue to fill out the forms with the same options we ve already mentioned in the Forms PowerView section of this guide, or you can use some of our time saving tools to help you quickly move on to the remainder of your appraisal. Now, click the Comps button in the upper right corner of the screen to access the Comps PowerView. To quickly access WinTOTAL s Comps PowerView, just click the Comps button. Adding Comps to your Report Using the Side-by-side Comps Feature In addition to standard Windows shortcuts, WinTOTAL has special keystrokes in all comps sections of your report that save you from repetitive data entry. 1. From the side-by-side comps view in the Comps PowerView, you can quickly manipulate additional comps beyond the first using related data from the subject and other comps. For instance, to copy the entire column for comp #1 to comp #2. Put your cursor at the beginning of the first line of comp #2 s address field. 2. Press the = key on your keyboard. A fly-out menu appears prompting you for the comp to copy. From here, just type the number of the comp to copy or you could use = again to wipe out the whole column. 3. The = function may also be used on individual line items. For instance, you could put your cursor in the location item for comp #3 and then press = so that, this time when you choose a number, it only copies that one item. Copying, Swapping & Rearranging Comps In the Comps PowerView, you can quickly rearrange, delete, hide, or reset your comps using WinTOTAL s built in features. WinTOTAL even recommends a suggested value for your subject using an average of your comps to produce a probable value. If you want to use WinTOTAL s suggested value for your sales comparison approach, just click the value to the right of Suggested in the subject property s heading. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Adding Comps to your Report Rev Page 16

17 You can quickly rearrange comps using the links in the headings of each comp column or the links in the subject property s heading. Here are some options you can use. Hide individual comps using the Hide links at the top of each comparable column or hide multiple comps using the Show desired comps link in the subject column. Dynamically rearrange your comps to place the best comps closest to the subject property by using the Move best comps closest link in the subject column. Add a comparable by using the corresponding link in the subject column. Delete a comparable using the Remove links in the comp column headings. Clear a comparable column using the corresponding link in a comp column heading. Swap a comparable with another by clicking the corresponding link in a comp column heading and then choosing a comparable to swap with. Adding Comps to your Report Automatic Adjustments Using WinTOTAL s new Automatic Adjuster, you can quickly make adjustments to all your comps based on a set of assumptions that you define. To use the Automatic Adjuster, just click the Auto Adjuster button at the top of the subject property in the Comps PowerView. The Auto Adjuster tools then fly out to the right of the subject property column and allow you to make adjustments to any set of data, whether it s numeric data like the square footage, or text data like the Condition field. For numeric fields, just type the adjustment amount per unit difference in the Adjustment column and then type a threshold that the total adjustment must meet before applying an adjustment to your report in the Difference column. Notice that WinTOTAL automatically calculates the adjustments for all your comps for you to save you time. Hint: If you d like to use a more robust, feature-rich tool to make your square footage adjustments, just use WinTOTAL s Square Footage Adjuster in the Tools menu. Detailed View In addition to the numerous fields you see describing the comps in each form you use, WinTOTAL also gives you the option to view more detailed info about your comps. Whether you want to view the detailed info from a Comp you ve pulled from your Comps Database or you want to fine tune your adjustments based on the components that comprise a value in your field, the Detailed View in WinTOTAL s Comps PowerView allows you to get the job done right. To use WinTOTAL s Detailed View while you re filling out your Comps grid, just click the Detailed View button in the section at the top of the Subject property. Complete the Adjustment Table to tell WinTOTAL how much to adjust comps based on text entries. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Adding Comps to your Report Rev Page 17

18 Adding Comps to your Report If you re making adjustments to text fields like the Condition field, click the labeled button to the right of the Difference column in any given field to create an adjustment table for that field. When the Adjustment Table screen appears, just type the descriptions for your adjustments in the Description field and then type in adjustments corresponding to each comment in the Value field on the right. See Automatic Adjustments in the Comps PowerView chapter of the WinTOTAL User s Guide for more details. Searching Your Comps Database Whether you want to import comps from your MLS or prior appraisals, or whether you ve manually entered a list of comps in your Comps Database, we ve provided a quick way for you to find the comps you need in your database on the fly. To search for a comp in your Comps Database, just click the Comps Database button in the Comps pane on the left side of the screen. When the Comps Database loads, you can either scroll vertically through your list of comps to find a suitable comp for your report or you can use the Search pane on the left to conduct a specific search for the comps you need. To find one more quickly, let s use the Search pane. 1. Type in the criteria for the comps you want and then click the Find Now link at the bottom of the Search pane. 2. The comps that meet your criteria then appear to the right of the search pane. 3. If you need to refine your search, click the Detailed link in the Search pane for a list of additional commonly used fields or click the Customize link in either the Search pane or the Detailed Search window to customize the list of search fields. 4. When you ve found a comp(s) that meets your criteria and you d like to insert it into your report, check the box to the left of the comp(s) and then click the Place button at the top of the window. 5. When you re ready, you can return to the side-by-side comps mode by clicking the corresponding button in the Comps pane on the left. First Time: Importing Comps into Your Database The first time you access your Comps Database, it might seem a bit bare. To cure that problem, we ve included an Import tool to help you quickly import comps from your old reports. To import comps from your old reports: 1. In the Comps PowerView, click Comps Database in the Comps pane on the left. 2. Next, click the Import button in the toolbar at the top to begin the import process. 3. When the Comps Database Import Wizard appears, choose the option to import comps from reports in your File Cabinet and then click Next. 4. Check the box to search for duplicates so that WinTOTAL can address any duplicate comps it finds during the import process. Then we still need to address how WinTOTAL handles these duplicates whenever it does find them. Choose to ignore duplicate comps, update the existing comps with information from the duplicate, or preview each duplicate comp by marking the corresponding option and then click Next to continue. 5. Now, WinTOTAL shows you a list of the folders in your File Cabinet. Check each of the folders you d like WinTOTAL to WinTOTAL Tutorial - Adding Comps to your Report Rev Page 18

19 Adding a Sketch to Your Report search through for comps and then click Finish. 6. WinTOTAL then automatically inserts comps from the reports in your File Cabinet into your Comps Database for later use. When it's finished, just click the Close button and your Comps Database should reappear completely populated with your new comps. Adding a Sketch to Your Report In WinTOTAL s Sketch PowerView, you can easily create a sketch, add it to your report, and pull relevant information about the subject property automatically into your report to save you time. First, click the Sketch button in the upper right corner of the screen to quickly access WinTOTAL s Sketch PowerView. 2. Now, from the drop-down menu in the New Sketch screen, select the type of sketch you want to create, and then click OK. Sketch types include: Building Sketch Location and Building Sketch Additional Buildings Sketch Foundation Sketch Above-Grade Building Sketch Below-Grade Building Sketch Common Areas Sketch 3. WinTOTAL launches your preferred sketching application. 4. You can now draw your sketch. When finished, save it and it will populate into your report in WinTOTAL. First Time: Authorizing Your Sketcher Before you can draw a sketch in WinTOTAL, you need to select your preferred sketching application and authorize your sketch license. To do so 1. In the Sketch PowerView, click Options in the toolbar. 2. Choose the sketch vendor from the Choose your sketcher dropdown menu. Then, click the Register link that appears. 3. If WinTOTAL detects that you ve already installed the software you selected, you re prompted about how you want to authorize your sketcher. Options are: To access the Sketch PowerView, just click Sketch. Then, to create a new sketch 1. From the Sketch PowerView, click the New Sketch button in the toolbar. Online Authorizes your sketcher for full use in WinTOTAL. Manual Temporarily authorizes your sketcher when you supply an authorization code from your sketch vendor. You must register online within 14 days in order to fully authorize your license in WinTOTAL. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Adding a Sketch to Your Report Rev Page 19

20 Using Images in Your Report Demo Mode This mode is demo only. In many cases, when you draw a sketch in demo mode, the final sketch is labeled as Demo Only. Only choose this option if you do not already have a fully licensed sketcher you intend to use with WinTOTAL as it is only intended for demonstration purposes. Mark your preferred option and click Next. 4. Depending on your authorization choice, several things may occur If you register in Demo Mode, you re immediately able to draw demo sketches through WinTOTAL. If you register Manually, you re prompted to enter the authorization code you received from your sketch vendor. Once you enter your authorization code, your sketcher is fully activated for use in WinTOTAL for 14 days. After 14 days, you must register online to complete the authorization process. If you register Online, WinTOTAL connects to the Internet and authorizes your license. Depending on the types of license you have purchased from your sketch vendor, several things may occur. If an available single user license is found, you re prompted to use it to authorize your sketching software. Click Yes to use your available license. If WinTOTAL finds both an available single user license and a Network license of your sketcher, you re prompted to choose your license. Click either Network or Individual to indicate your choice. Then, click OK in the confirmation screen that appears. If WinTOTAL is unable to find a license available, you re prompted to visit the VIP Marketplace to purchase a license or to run the sketcher in demo mode. Click Demo Mode or 5. Click Save when finished to save your changes. Area Calculations Transfer to Forms After you ve completed your sketch, WinTOTAL automatically inserts relevant data from your sketch into your report. The gross living area, for instance, is automatically inserted into the comps grid of a URAR. In addition, if you designated specific areas within your sketch, you can automatically insert alternate data from your sketch into your report by checking the boxes for each area you d like into your report in the Sketch Areas pane on the left. Using Images in Your Report The new Images PowerView in WinTOTAL Aurora replaces the Photos PowerView in previous versions of WinTOTAL. If you ve been using older versions of WinTOTAL, you ll be pleased to know that all of the familiar functions are still available: importing images, building an images database to quickly find your photos, the Image Optimizer. But, each has been enhanced with some new functions as well. In the new Images PowerView, we ve added many features to help you quickly retrieve photos from your camera or storage device, enhance them for your report and place them in the appropriate slots within your appraisal. Here s a brief description of some of our additions. You can simply hover your mouse pointer over a thumbnail image to view a larger copy of that item. You can now edit any of the data on your photo pages directly from the Images Powerview. With the new My Albums you can group the photos you import into the database for easy reference. For example, you might create an album for all the photos of one property. Or, if you re working with several appraisers, build an album for each appraiser. Marketplace to indicate your choice or click Cancel to address the issue at a later time. WinTOTAL Tutorial - Using Images in Your Report Rev Page 20