using appeasers as part of your investment strategy

[Jason Baker]

Has anyone used real estate appraiser services to help develop acquisition strategies in a particular area. i have been talking to some companies that say they can help me analyze trends in specific areas. 

Another though is using services to help me look at ARV and market trends for different multi family units i am looking at. I am very data oriented, but also very busy in my day job, i feel that spending a few hundred dollars on a property to help develop a good number or show a bad deal early on then being stuck loosing thousands at the end of a deal.