I am getting more and more orders and am debating how to best organize this.
I used to wait till noon to run out and do photos etc. but lately orders seem to come in the late afternoons.
Do you guys go out once a day or more? How do you juggle an keep track of your orders? Spread sheet?

I did search the topic since I recall a thread onthis but cannot come up with the right keywords to view them.

I have a spreadsheet with these columns:
pics done?
pic types needed?
Address
City
Due Date
Time
Company
Fee
Type
Access Info
BPO Company

Then I make an invoice in my Quickbooks program for every order. When the payment comes, I can just track it through the program.

As far as when to go out, I never find any rhyme or reason to the madness. I take pictures 4-5 times per week. Today I was out for 4 hours.

Hope that helps.

I try to only go out once a day for pics. Usually, out of the house around 7, and try to get back by noon-ish. Closest to my house gets done first, then the surrounding suburbs, then the way out suburbs, and finally rural stuff if any. The PC work is done the rest of the day/night, or until I get stressed, and start throwing my lighter across the room.

I use a legal pad for all my in process orders. One page per co, order date, due date, ext/int, and fee, and number each one in the order I want to view them. Since I'm so lazy at filling out my spreadsheet I use for my completed ones, I also keep on the legal pad, price, repairs, and date completed.

I leave the house about 5:30am (now that it's getting light earlier, before I didn't leave till 7am). I go to the furthest point first and work my way back. I print out the public record and write all the info I need on that. I'm usually done with pics by 8am.

As I complete the work I enter it on my spreadsheet and file the work away. At least that is what I was doing, now as I look at a huge pile of completed orders sitting on the floor!!

Wow, spreadsheets and programs... dang. I'm pretty low-tech. I print my orders and maps that I take with me. Each month has a hanger in my file cabinet. Each company has a folder that I put the order page in. I keep property photos and copies of completed forms in a labeled computer folder, by month/year. I get my checks, I check off the properties from the month before, check stub goes in the cabinet with the folders.

Past months get moved to the lower cabinet of "complete" transactions for the print-outs, and the computer folders I keep (duplicate on 2 computers, laptop/desktop). No problems yet. LOL

Almost forgot- I start at furthest away, and work my way back. If I have one on each side furthest, I start where I have the least orders (like if I have 1 far north, and 3 far south, I will start north then go far south and work back). This way, if I have problems and run out of time, its not as difficult to run out "real quick" the next morning for close orders. UNLESS I have a high-pay rush, that gets done first. I also like it when they are in an arc or circle. Heh.

1 more thing I forgot, I have a cell that has GPS on it so I no longer print out the maps whichs save paper and a wee bit of time.

I only go out once a day (at the most). I don't leave until around 9:00am and I'm usually back in a couple of hours. I like to go after the morning rush hour and after kids have gone to school.

The night before I map everything out. From the map I try to make a large circle. With that I use a GPS system to actually map to the property. I find taking the step to map it saves a lot of time the next day out in the field.

I do use a spreadsheet to enter order/payment info on. I made one up for each month and my columns are Inspection date, address, owners name (so i can pull tax records), order #, company, fee, date cmpleted, and date paid. the last column adds all the fees automatically so I can glance and know how each month was. Pending orders go in a desktop organizer, completed ones get filed in one folder until they're paid, when I update the spreadsheet and move the file to the ALL done files.
For tax records, some area counties fax the papers, others, I have to go to and pull them myself. I generally don't know until I'm in the office at 7:30-8am just where I will be going. I get most of my orders in the mornings, then I plan my day or next few days. If the property is rural, which most are, i try to locate it on the plat and write the directions way before I leave the office, and take the plat books with me, along with county maps and a state map (a few good stories there, from which i've learned)...I try to do the furthest ones first and work my way back, but that depends on the route I need to take. Any that I know are REO or will be, I get done first, as this is primarily for getting listings, and those take precedence for me.

All excellent suggestions. Thank you so much you guys. The amount of experience in this forum is so helpful. I think I'll go the low tech book for now but can see I'll need to step it up with the volumn I'm getting. Can't keep all those papers forever.

Also was getting a little crazy with coming in from doing pics only to find a new order in the area I was just in and running back out there. $3 a gallon is just too costly to not drive smart and chill out a little bit.