Zaio Corp., with its U.S. subsidiary Zaio Inc., has surpassed 20 million photos of individual parcels of real estate in its growing national database. Zaio says it is coordinating the photography, inspection and appraisal of properties throughout the nation. The company's patent-pending technology is designed to be used by appraisers and help lenders obtain real-time appraisals from a secure database in much the same way they obtain credit reports.
‘We are well on the way of meeting our goal of having virtually every property in the largest metropolitan areas in the United States in our secure database by 2011,’ states Tom Beverly, vice president of photography. ‘To our knowledge, no other company has ever taken the initiative to collect and verify property data on such a national scale. These photos are an important part of our process, which will help restore confidence and help the country work through this mortgage crisis.’
Zaio photographs are taken to exact specifications and then are aligned with specific property information for analysis by a local appraiser. Zaio stores completed appraisals in the Appraisal Knowledge Warehouse, which is quickly becoming the largest repository of official real estate appraisals in the world, the company says. Updated interior inspections and photographs are also available when needed.