Up to now the most prevalent broker price opinion automation processes have used iMacros software. iMacros enables a user to call up a CSV export at the start of the script, followed by tags which direct the data from each spreadsheet cell to the corresponding field on the BPO form.
I found a little initial success after creating my first set of iMacros for a simple LSI form, but not all BPO forms are created equal. Next came Emortgage Logic. I struggled because some fields filled and some did not. After checking the codes I realized iMacros was being lazy and not counting after 50 fields. Yes iMacros is lazy because sometimes it just doesn’t want to work. I had to go in and manually input the proper field numbers for the whole form because there are nearly 200 fields. Yikes! OK no sweat I just lost a day trying to figure this one out but I will prevail. I set the iMacros to run the script the next day and it flows beautifully filling the MLS outputs. I hit save and then continue automation with the next form. Little did I know the data on all the drop down menus wasn’t getting saved even though it’s in the BPO form. The following morning I have a batch of unfinished orders and I spend another week trying to get assistance through their online forum to no avail. I begin to feel wary that I will be able to recoup my lost time through automation. It also dawns on me that the part of the form fill I can automate is what I was able to input manually in 5 minutes anyway. Was I really automating? I still had to fill out the subject info, neighborhood info, adjustments, comparable comments, comparable proximities, broker comments, my location from the subject, etc. On top of that, the CSV export from the MLS is a new added process which takes a little additional time. I just wasn’t sold on the whole “automate 90% of a BPO” claim, at least not with iMacros.
Hence, the idea for a more flexible and extreme automation which could use 100% of the MLS data regardless of column output, and be made available for use with any MLS which can export data to a CSV came to fruition. The iForm was born, a new breed of Broker Price Opinion form fill automation.
Disclaimer: iMacros is a worldwide product designed to easily fill forms and automate web browser processes. I respect the work they have accomplished on a massive scale. I still use iMacros for a variety of other business tasks. I’m merely identifying why their product falls short for specifically processing Broker Price Opinion form fill automation.