Mark L. Stockton began both appraising real estate and banking in the late 1960s. As president of a community bank in the mid ‘70s, he designed and developed the nation’s first comprehensive bank software. It would ultimately be used by one out of every three banks in the U.S. With the help of the University of New Mexico economics department and a renowned real estate litigation firm, Stockton developed the country’s first computerized residential valuation system in 1981, which produced automated valuations (AVMs), appraiser assisted valuations, traditional appraisals, and evaluations. An automated tax assessment system was added shortly thereafter.