Standardized Property Measuring Guidelines

[Terrel L. Shields]

none of those appraisals were not measured to the tenth of a foot. I had several where one wall on the front would be exactly three, four or five foot longer than it actually was

So the issue isn't whether you measure to the tenth or to the foot is it?

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

So the issue isn't whether you measure to the tenth or to the foot is it?

On those, there were bigger problems, but ANSI covers more than just measuring to the tenth of a foot.

So, when builder plans are filed with the county and they use the actual data from the blueprints measured to 5/16 of an inch, you should not consider those properties because they were not measured to the nearest foot? How do you know which ones are based on builder plans or actual assessor measurements. There have been a lot of homes built and filed with the county in the last 0-30 years that are based on builder plans measured to 5/16 of an inch. Some plans were filed on the wrong address in some counties around here. What about the homes out in the county with no permits needed where they added onto the home and the county has no idea? Just roll with the tax records and keep the misinformation going? What a waste to argue especially with so much tax data being so unreliable or just wrong.

 

[Mejappz]

Just roll with the tax records and keep the misinformation going? What a waste to argue especially with so much tax data being so unreliable or just wrong.

Not in my market. The data is quite good here. You still have not answered my question.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

So, when builder plans are filed with the county and they use the actual data from the blueprints measured to 5/16 of an inch, you should not consider those properties because they were not measured to the nearest foot?

I've never worked in a state that either required builder plans be provided the assessor nor didn't require the assessor to measure either themselves or through a CAMA. So why not the hundredth... your peers do in Texas err or the tenth...ah the foot...WTF?

House Measuring – Part 3 of 3

theappraisaliq.com

 

[CGinMN]

If it is 0.1 or 0.3 off, sometimes it comes from rounding to the nearest tenth and you rounded 10.05 up to 10.10 and maybe should have been 10.00. If you round all 10.05's up to 10.10's you will probably be off 0.2 after four walls.

So how do you decide which side to fudge up or down? As soon as you do so, you’re not ANSI-compliant, right?

It might seem like small potatoes, but the point I’m trying to make is that ANSI compliance is really only theoretical. So if you fudge twentieth’s of one foot, how is that any different than fudging whole feet, or multiple feet, or pretending you measured angles and curves that you didn’t have the instruments to measure. At what point does adjusting or reconciling your measurements turn from necessity to cheating? Either way aren’t you misleading your readers saying you’ve met a theoretical standard that was unattainable?

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

How many Qualifying education courses on measuring does an appraiser need to take to get Certified?

Sorry, missed this one while out on an appointment.

None in the state of Texas, but that is likely to change now. There have been courses on ANSI for years. If you can read, you don't need a class. There are no required courses on UAD for certification either. Classes are not needed for NAR ethics for certification, but we all had to take that for MLS access.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

So how do you decide which side to fudge up or down? As soon as you do so, you’re not ANSI-compliant, right?

It might seem like small potatoes, but the point I’m trying to make is that ANSI compliance is really only theoretical. So if you fudge twentieth’s of one foot, how is that any different than fudging whole feet, or multiple feet, or pretending you measured angles and curves that you didn’t have the instruments to measure. At what point does adjusting or reconciling your measurements turn from necessity to cheating? Either way aren’t you misleading your readers saying you’ve met a theoretical standard that was unattainable?

You are rounding to the tenth, not the hundredth and the difference will be miniscule. At least you are not a foot off when you round to the foot. Measuring to the foot is only theoretical too because you have round then too. If you have five walls at 10.5 feet, it is 52.5 feet long not 55 feet. It happens at any unit of measurement.

You don't have a miter gauge for angles? Every appraiser measuring a home with angles should have a miter gauge. Not all angles are 45 or 90 degrees.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

I am tired of arguing with walls. I am out on this. Just deal with it when it becomes official and handle it the way you want like you are going to do anyway. All wanted to explain was that it is not that big a deal to spend 60 pages whining about it.

 

[Fernando]

When we do our taxes, we're allowed to round off to nearest dollar because IRS knows cents won't be significant.
Then why is Fannie requiring us to measure down to 1/10th foot. It's not significant to gross area when comparing to comps.
Fannie needs to understand statistics. Just more work for appraisers.

 

[jay trotta]

Every appraiser I personally know measures to the tenth of foot here in Texas. They all use a Disto or a fiberglass tape that measures to a tenth a foot. I haven't seen a wheel in over 20 years. We don't have assessor sketches readily available to copy.

How do you gather the comp. GLA data ?