Cost data at a fraction of the price

If you are looking for way to trim expenses, might I suggest the National Building Cost Manual published by Craftsman Books.  A friend and fellow appraiser brought this source to my attention and I thought I would try it out.  It comes in both book and software format.

I compared it to Marshall & Swift and liked what I found.  Granted Craftsman's data is categorized a little differently and they have a little different idea of what constitutes "average quality", "good quality" etc.  But when I matched up an example cost estimate as best I could, Craftsman's result was within a few percentage points of Marshall & Swift.

And here is the best part.  It is roughly one-tenth the cost.  I spent a total of $53 on both the book and software.  Compared to over $500 for my Marshall & Swift annual subscription.  Plus the book included not only residential, but many commercial, industrial and retail improvements.

Now it is not as exhaustively detailed as M&S, but for simple RCN calculations it appears it could be a real good, and less expensive alternative.