What's Different about the Forms & Why Did They Change?

The new forms are quite different.  Instead of us going into detail, see Fannie Mae's 3/24/05 announcement at: http://www.efanniemae.com/sf/formsdocs/forms/.

We also published an article in our October 20, 2005 newsletter that discusses educating your clients about the new Fannie Mae forms.

The new 1004 form has different calculations.  For details on what transfers where and from what, see our annotated 1004 at http://help.alamode.com/docs/4532.pdf.

How Do I Access the New URAR?

The new URAR as well as other forms released in March 2005 are in a special category within the Contents view.  Scroll past the Residential Forms & Addenda category to see the Most Common Forms & Addenda folder.

The Cost Approach on the New 1004 Isn't Transferring in Data

The cost approach is optional on the new 1004.  If you don't fill it out, you certainly wouldn't want things like square footage transferred in.  As a solution, we added a check box that pops up when you click the square footage field.  Be sure that's checked.

I Can't Type Data into Some Fields on the Form
We've released an update to address this issue that was caused by merging straight from an old form into the new one - it would cause fields to be errantly marked as read only.    The end result is that it appears as though you can't type into the form.   

Downloading updates will prevent this from happening in future reports.  If you have a current report with this problem, press F6 before pressing ENTER in those fields and your text will stay.

When I Clone an Old Report Why Doesn't it Automatically Use the New URAR?

WinTOTAL doesn't keep track of form "versions" like this.  To the program, the new URAR is just another form.  The nice thing is that our form swapping feature will seamlessly convert one form to another whenever there are field names that match up. 

So, if you have a report or template that you want to "convert" to the new form, just do the following:  Open the report, and go to the Contents view.  Add the new form by double-clicking it from the list on the left.  Then, confirm the prompt asking you to switch the form.  Just remember:  Don't start by taking the old form out first!  You'll lose its data if you do!

Many people don't know this, but we also save your old form before switching in the new one.  After swapping forms, click Workfile in the toolbar to launch the Workfile PowerView.  You'll see your old form in the list of items in the workfile.

Athena

Aurora

To see the data on it, just click it.  You can even restore the old form to the report by clicking Restore, but you may want to backup your existing major form first:  From the Forms PowerView, just click the Form menu and choose Save Major Form in Workfile PowerView.  You can use this feature anytime to get a snapshot of a form that you may want to revert back to later.

Working with Calculations & Transfers in the New Form

We've attempted to automate as many transfers and calculations as possible.  However, it's impossible to know all the possible combinations of processes and data that appraisers across the nation are going to use.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• WinTOTAL transfers data to and from various fields on and between forms.  (For example, the effective age is carried forward from the site improvement section into the cost approach depreciation calculation scratchpad.)  In case you need to override transferred or calculated data, just go to the field, type in the information you want to override, and click the lock button in the toolbar.
  
  
• In Athena, you may need to recalculate after changing out the major form.  This commonly, cures problems with incorrect net and gross totals in the sales comparison.  Just go to the form that needs the math corrected, click the Form menu, and choose Recalculate current form...

Will the QuickLists Transfer from the Old Form to the New Form?

Yes and no.  QuickLists created in fields that are part of WinTOTAL's forms transfer system (i.e. the fields that can transfer from a major form to a minor form) will be available in the new URAR or any other form that has the same field.  QuickLists for fields that don't transfer between forms will need to be created.  For a video tutorial on QuickLists, visit:  http://www.alamode.com/training/quickstart/

Can I Use My Old Template with the New URAR?

Sure.  Just swap out the form after you clone.  You may even want to change your template over once you're using the new URAR on all your reports.

Can I Shorten, Change or Remove Sections of the Form?

We're simply reproducing the forms that FNMA designs.  It's their design, and tampering with it would break the spirit of a "Uniform" report.  Besides, WinTOTAL doesn't have features that let you modify forms or hard-coded text anyway.