In the early 1990's, like many other small appraisal firms, we spent a lot of time building and rebuilding income capitalization spreadsheet templates for different appraisals. The time required for a new (or rebuilt) spreadsheet generally ranged from an hour or two - to a day or more. With each new spreadsheet analysis, there was a new potential for error. Checking (and sometimes rechecking) to make sure that each formula was correctly entered in the spreadsheet consumed even more time. While we welcomed each occasion to make a new spreadsheet analysis (for a new appraisal assignment), we also felt that there had to be a better way.

Eventually we decided to try and develop a stand-alone computer program that would be versatile and quick, and produce reliable and consistent results. Among other things, we wanted this program to incorporate consideration of the interrelationships between the value, income, and the rates and factors that tie them together. We also wanted it to be capable of generating a report - in any one of several different formats - that could easily be integrated into an appraisal report.

Along the way to reaching this goal we were fortunate to find a number of investors, lenders, and appraisers who were kind enough to share views and insights about income capitalization theory and techniques. We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all these people, especially Doug Winner - a NC General Appraiser and appraisal instructor - who contributed literally hundreds of hours in discussions about the income capitalization approach.

In 1995 we introduced the N-CAP'R program. Today you can download a demo copy from this web site and check it out for yourself.

M. Curtis West
West Appraisal Analysis, Inc.
P. O. Box 947
Zebulon, NC 27597