Best software for doing inspections with an iPad?

[gringogigante]

You must have had a lot of sleepless nights prior to laser measuring. Would almost be impossible to guarantee accuracy to 1/10 of an inch using a tape measure. Tape sag and parallax come to mind.



So using your preferred degree of accuracy for the subject and comparing it to a comparable sale that was not measured to the same degree of accuracy would not be misleading?

Great questions...... focus on now. Who cares about the past? What does our client want NOW? And are there standards available NOW that can help us be better?

If the answer is yes, then do it. Don't reach for the low hanging fruit. Don't focus on how it used to be done. Do it the best you can now.

 

[Dublin ohio]

What does our client want NOW?

I do not know what your clients want. But from your comments. They must want a bunch of "fluff". My clients expect a credible report. I do not think any client expects measurements to the 1/100 of a foot. Just like they do not expect adjustments down to the dollar. Even though some appraiser's do make adjustments down to the dollar (they do not know how to set the auto adjust features in their software). You are free to use whatever degree of accuracy you want. But do not expect too many to believe that degree of accuracy makes for a better quality or more credible report

 

[gringogigante]

I do not know what your clients want. But from your comments. They must want a bunch of "fluff". My clients expect a credible report. I do not think any client expects measurements to the 1/100 of a foot. Just like they do not expect adjustments down to the dollar. Even though some appraiser's do make adjustments down to the dollar (they do not know how to set the auto adjust features in their software). You are free to use whatever degree of accuracy you want. But do not expect too many to believe that degree of accuracy makes for a better quality or more credible report

You're correct! They don't "expect measurements to the 1/100 of a foot". They expect a common standard of 1/10th of a foot. If you want to generalize, then do it. If you want to strive for avarice, then do it. But if there's a better way, why wouldn't you consider it?

This is a chat forum. Tomorrow we'll all go out and do whatever we want to do. Some will be round to the foot. Some will not. Those that want the greatest degree of accuracy will use the methods that make us more accurate. Those that don't care won't.

The people that strive mightily for that low hanging fruit keep coming back with infantile vagaries like "some make adjustments" and "some don't know their software" and " what about the guy that....."

Who cares what "some" may do? Who cares "how it was done"?

What's the best way now? There is a standard that our clients use that SPECIFY how it is to be done. What exactly is the point of arguing that?

I'm open....convince me.

If you can't, be accurate.

 

[ramrcdk]

wow... I measure to the 10th, square, and in recognizing the mindful & mindless decisions in measuring ...or types of measurements, I use a buffer which is simply found in the market when researching the varying data sources & is a part of every report, takes 5 minutes.
Also, I am finding here AGENTS are (finally) doing a better JOB when representing the seller. More than not, there is an attached professional sketch & also in part knowing the companies hired are reputable.
I remember back in the day, agents were all about marketing a property as "this neighborhood is selling for $bla blaa a sq ft". WHAT a joke. I would ask, now are you basing this on the one with the three car garage & pool OR the tear-down? Never hear that anymore.
I would never dollar for dollar GLA.

 

[JTip]

perfection is impossible to attain and competence does not require perfection

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

They expect a common standard of 1/10th of

I would love to meet the LO who even knows an ANSI standard exists for measuring a house.
The purpose of measuring is to estimate the GLA to compare with the comps. Almost nothing more. My cost book is by the foot, not the 100th of a foot (10th x 10th). And that measurement varies. The foundation? Which is the basis used by the builder. The siding? The corner trim? The brick wainscot? And accurate measurements are dependent upon more than our Disto. Did you hold it exactly level? Is the house even perfectly square?

Take those

attached professional sketch

and measure yourself. You will be lucky to replicate the results. So measure all 4 sides of a box and the measurements can vary by more than a tenth. Surveyors use very sophisticated theodolite and laser measures but look at some frequently measured benchmark and see how many different survey pins are stuck around. I've seen 4 or 5 on a subdivision corner placed over a period of 40 years. Which one is "right."? I don't know either.

 

[ramrcdk]

I would love to meet the LO who even knows an ANSI standard exists for measuring a house.
The purpose of measuring is to estimate the GLA to compare with the comps. Almost nothing more. My cost book is by the foot, not the 100th of a foot (10th x 10th). And that measurement varies. The foundation? Which is the basis used by the builder. The siding? The corner trim? The brick wainscot? And accurate measurements are dependent upon more than our Disto. Did you hold it exactly level? Is the house even perfectly square?

Take those
and measure yourself. You will be lucky to replicate the results. So measure all 4 sides of a box and the measurements can vary by more than a tenth. Surveyors use very sophisticated theodolite and laser measures but look at some frequently measured benchmark and see how many different survey pins are stuck around. I've seen 4 or 5 on a subdivision corner placed over a period of 40 years. Which one is "right."? I don't know either.

Well being in the field of years of this, engineering, CAD, etc. etc. etc. I do. And is it! AND I like it very much!

 

[gringogigante]

perfection is impossible to attain and competence does not require perfection

I agree. Especially since there's no such thing as a perfectly square house. But perfection is neither the desired goal nor the standard we're asked to follow. Accuracy is.... Rounding is inaccurate. So why do it?

This is of course beside the fact that we're told to measure to 1/10th of a foot. So why even argue about it. That's what they pay us to do, so we do it.

 

[gregb]

How hard is it to measure a dog box with a tape or a laser? I saw an appraiser standing out on the sidewalk with a measuring wheel sighting in a front 60 foot wall of a residence, where the appraiser was more than 25 feet from the house. Oh, well, no wet grass on those gucci's or ferragamos. I thought, yeah, get a little closer so you don't strain your eyes.

 

[gringogigante]

I would love to meet the LO who even knows an ANSI standard exists for measuring a house.

It doesn't matter if they know how we're told to do our job or not. We don't base our work on what someone else may or may not know. We do it because they ask us to and we agree. I don't understand what the fuss is. This isn't rocket science. Just try it. God forbid, you learn something new. If for some reason, it makes your head explode just go back to doing it the way you used to.

"Improvise, adapt and overcome - USMC, unofficial"