Issue

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Californians Consider Moving 
• Valuation 2004 Orlando a Huge Success
• Enter Our Drawing For a DISTO
• Mortgage Apps Up 
• Tech Tip: Easily Find Help in ClickFORMS

According to a new survey, almost a quarter of Californians say the high cost of housing has made them seriously consider moving away – either to a different part of California or to a different state. The study was conducted Oct. 21 to Nov. 1 in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

The report released on Nov. 18 by the Public Policy Institute of California also indicated that many Californians would be willing to make trade-offs such as living in a smaller house if it has a shorter commute or living in homes that are closer together if they’re within walking distance of outdoor recreation. Both options are generally less expensive.

You can read the press release announcing the report’s availability and download the entire report free by visiting the Public Policy Institute of California website at www.ppic.org.

It was great to see all of our wonderful customers from the other side of the country last week in Orlando. The weather was great and the conversations were stimulating.

Our theme was "Saving Time with ClickFORMS". The philosophy that drives this time savings is our belief that you should never have to enter the same data more than once. And our ability to demonstrate how much better we do this for our customers than the competition won over a record number of new customers for one show. Now we have even more customers to visit on the right coast.

There was also an amazing amount of interest in our mobile computing solutions and how they can help make appraisers more productive in the field and spend less time working in the office. Many of you were excited by the possibilities for increasing productivity when ClickFORMS and the Motion Computing tablet are combined because you realized that the entire report could be completed and delivered from the field.

Thank you all for spending some of your valuable time with us in Orlando, and thank you to Joan Trice for making it all possible - again.

Thank you to everyone who’s making our new Refer-a-Friend program a success! We’re glad that you’re referring ClickFORMS to your colleagues, and we’re also looking forward to giving away that DISTO Classic 5a.

As we told you in last week’s ClickTALK, we’re kicking off our new Refer-a-Friend program by entering every existing customer whose ClickFORMS recommendation creates a new customer into a drawing for a DISTO Classic 5 – a $499 value! And that’s not all – with the Refer-a-Friend program, every time an existing customer refers ClickFORMS to an appraiser who purchases a new ClickFORMS owner license, we give the existing customer a $50 credit.

What can you do with your $50 credit? You can apply it toward extending your Maintenance Plus, or adding additional users, Live Support, AppraisalWorld Connection, or a Digital Signature to your account.

But to enter our drawing, you have to act soon. Only referrals credited by noon on December 17 will be entered. We’ll be conducting the drawing that afternoon so we can get it to the lucky winner in time for Christmas!

• To get credit for a referral, the new customer needs to tell us who referred them at the time of purchase. To let you know who’s mentioning your name, we’ll send both of you a confirmation email.
• The new customer must purchase a new ClickFORMS owner license. The Tell-a-Friend program does not apply to associate license purchases.
• The new ClickFORMS license must be purchased on or after Nov. 16 to qualify for the $50 Refer-a-Friend credit.
• The new license purchase must be made by 12:00PM (noon) PST on Dec. 17, 2004 to qualify for the drawing.
• There are no limits on the number of people you can refer. As long as this program is in place, you can keep earning your $50 credits. Credits will be valid for one (1) year after being granted. Credits are not transferable and cannot be applied to past purchases.

Refer-a-Friend and get a $50 credit. Refer-a-Friend before Dec. 17 and you may win a DISTO Classic 5 – just in time for Christmas! To take advantage of our new referral program call 1-800-622-8727 today.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 12. The Market Composite Index of mortgage loan applications - a measure of mortgage loan applications - was 758.3, an increase of 4.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 727.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 7.5 percent compared with last week but was up 15.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The MBA seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 0.6 percent to 480.3 from 483.0 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index increased by 10.6 percent to 2375.4 from 2148.7 one week earlier.

Other seasonally adjusted index activity included the Conventional Index, which increased 3.4 percent to 1125.2 from 1088.2 the previous week. The Government Index increased 16.7 percent to 146.0 from 125.1 the previous week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 48.6 percent of total applications from 45.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 34.0 percent of total applications from 35.3 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.70 percent from 5.69 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 1.27 from 1.36 the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained at 5.08 percent, with points decreasing to 1.27 from 1.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 3.89 percent from 4.03 percent one week earlier, with points decreasing to 0.97 from 1.05 from the previous week (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

It’s easy to get help when using ClickFORMS! From the pull-down menu at the top, select “Help”. Here is some of what you will find there.

“Show Me How…” will take you to an excellent series of short videos covering many popular topics.

“Tell Me How…” will open a searchable help file. Click on the Search tab in the upper-left and type in a keyword like PDF. Several topics will appear. Click on a topic and step-by-step instructions will appear on the right.

Select “Reference Information” then “ClickFORMS User Guide” for another searchable help file.

If you still do not find the answers you need, select “Request Assistance” to send an e-mail directly to Technical Support.

If you’re going to be traveling next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, we hope you have a safe and enjoyable trip. Don't forget to tell your friends to mention your name if they call us to purchase ClickFORMS.