Changes to the 1004MC
Fannie Mae has revised the 1004MC (Market Condition) Form in order to give more flexibility on what fields are mandatory. It is understood that not all historical data is available to an appraiser, so there are now certain fields that are only required if the information is available. Specific changes include:

• The bottom two lines in Inventory Analysis are now shaded except for the column "Current to 3 Months," as are the third and fourth lines of Median Sale & List Price, DOM, Sales/List %. (Shaded areas are not required, however if you can supply the info then you should)
• Fourth line wording is changed from "Median List-to-Sale Price Ratio," to "Median Sale Price as % of List Price." This change also affects the auto calculation provided by your forms software.

ClickFORMS will release the revised 1004MC form in two weeks.

For information and downloadable files to help you implement the 1004MC, please visit http://www.bradfordsoftware.com/support/1004mc/

Refresher on Mean, Median, Mode and Range
Mean, median, and mode are three kinds of "averages". There are many "averages" in statistics, but these are, I think, the three most common, and are certainly the three you are most likely to encounter in your pre-statistics courses, if the topic comes up at all.

The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have to be listed in numerical order, so you may have to rewrite your list first. The "mode" is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is no mode for the list.

The "range" is just the difference between the largest and smallest values.

Find the mean, median, mode, and range for the following list of values:
13, 18, 13, 14, 13, 16, 14, 21, 13

The mean is the usual average, so:
(13 + 18 + 13 + 14 + 13 + 16 + 14 + 21 + 13) ÷ 9 = 15

Note that the mean isn't a value from the original list. This is a common result. You should not assume that your mean will be one of your original numbers.

The median is the middle value, so I'll have to rewrite the list in order:
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21

There are nine numbers in the list, so the middle one will be the (9 + 1) ÷ 2 = 10 ÷ 2 = 5th number:
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21

So the median is 14.

The mode is the number that is repeated more often than any other, so 13 is the mode.

The largest value in the list is 21, and the smallest is 13, so the range is 21 – 13 = 8.

mean: 15
median: 14
mode: 13
range: 8

Note: The formula for the place to find the median is "( [the number of data points] + 1) ÷ 2", but you don't have to use this formula. You can just count in from both ends of the list until you meet in the middle, if you prefer. Either way will work.

Regulating AMCs
The Appraisal Institute (AI) is working hard to bring regulations to the AMC industry. AI wants reform that will allow state Appraisal boards to administer rules for owners of AMCs while monitoring the fee schedules. AI has drafted a legislation model that includes basic AMC office information, hiring and training controls and exemptions for certain types of Non-AMC usage of appraisers. The legislation would be administered and monitored by local state appraisal boards.

To learn more, click here.

Adobe Acrobat Update
Adobe has released Acrobat 9.1 Pro and Adobe Reader 9 in order to address "a number of customer workflow issues and a critical security vulnerability while providing more stability." Adobe describes the security issue as follows:

A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 and earlier versions. This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this issue is being exploited.
Adobe recommends users of Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9 update to Adobe Reader 9.1 and Acrobat 9.1. Adobe is planning to make available updates for Adobe Reader 7 and 8, and Acrobat 7 and 8, by March 18. In addition, Adobe plans to make available Adobe Reader 9.1 for Unix by March 25.

To download the latest version of Adobe Reader, click here. If you use Adobe Acrobat (Pro or Standard), an update is available here.

Go Green for St. Patrick’s Day
At Bradford Technologies’ headquarters office in Silicon Valley, we have been working for years to reduce our impact on the environment through clean alternative energy, recycling, and other practices. And what better time than St. Patrick’s Day to encourage you to be green?

From time to time, as part of our Bradford Green program, we’ll be giving you some easy tips to live green, save money by lowering energy usage, and help reduce emissions.

One of the ways we work green is by reducing the amount of paper and plastic we use. This means that when you purchase ClickFORMS or update your copy, you can download the software immediately without the paper and plastic involved in shipping a CD package. This means you’ll always have the latest version. Millions of obsolete discs end up in landfills each month, and are harmful to the environment. For more information, visit CD Recycling Center of America.

We’ll continue doing our part by using solar energy (take a look at this page to see our office solar array), recycling paper, glass and plastic in our office, using reclaimed water for landscaping, and printing on recycled paper with environmentally friendly inks. We hope you’ll join us.

Bargain Bin
Here are some deals we've found this week.

Batteries.com
Save 15% on any purchase now through Monday, March 16. Use coupon code SPRING09.

Buy.com
Canon Powershot A1000IS 10 megapixel digital camera. Regularly $149.99, now $114.99

OfficeMax.com
Select essential office supplies sale: Buy 2, Get 1 Free. Sale includes supplies from Sharpie, Avery, Post-It, and more.

ClickFORMS Maintenance
Save $100 on ClickFORMS Silver Maintenance when you renew between Monday, March 16 and Friday, March 27.

Didyaknow?
ClickFORMS is built for power users with drag-and-drop functionality and Windows control keys. Learn all the power user shortcuts with our handy Quick Reference card. Download it here.