Funny comment from homeowner about measuring

[Pa'akai]

Back in 1988 when I was working for Bank Of America I had to do a pre-constuction sketch on a house in Laguna Beach that kind of looked like the picture Greg posted. It kind of looked like that but curved walls. These were the days when sketches were drawn by hand and had to do calculations manually. We had the architectual plans but no sf was provided by the builder. There was no way I could figure it out by hand and gave it to quality control. They said great, we just got a new sketching program for computers (dcsketch). Took them two weeks to finish and was one of the first ever done on computer by the bank. It had all these curved walls, odd triangles sticking out different walls, circular rooms butting out. It was unbelievable.

 

[Pa'akai]

I always thought DCSketch was the best and easiest sketching software. It was dos based but I could finish a sketch with dcsketch in half the time I do now.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Sometimes I still miss DCSketch.
Can't say the same for DOS.

 

[Pa'akai]

DCSketch has a windows based program again. They seemed to have disappeared for some years but are now back. Out of Florida I think. Wonder how good they are.

 

[BRCJR]

My favorite sketch

 

[RSW]

My favorite sketch

I had a house with just about that same layout but it was a two story with a basement and part of the basment was finished and part was a garage.

 

[Brian Weaver]

Here's what I love as a regulator....CG's that are doing a tax appeal...deciding it's too tough or too time consuming to measure a 200,000+ square foot retail facility. In their report, they decide to "defer to the assessor's measurements". I'm sorry...but isn't a fundamental thing to make certain that the assessor's measurements are accurate...for a tax appeal?

So...little me...I spent a Sunday morning measuring this place. Turns out everyone was way off. Unreal.

 

[Truett Neathery]

Measure

Due to liability (drives everything) the office I work with requires us to personally measure and provide a sketch with every listing we do, it never matches builders drawings or what the county data states. I take pride in how we do it versus most that will take the homeowners stated size and the really lazy just take county data.

It has been said that the square footage on the assessor's roll represents the PERMITTED sf and anything more may be UNPERMITTED!, or so I hear. We cannot check around here because the building dept. does not keep plans, and some homes were built before permits were invented by the priests of the bureaucratic segment of society.

I have observed this personally, as I had a neighbor who was living in his 2-sty. barn that was alleged to be an "agricultural structure" requireing no permits at the time. He told the county he was raising chinchillas, and they needed those drapes and carpets!!!!
TN

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Truett: My understanding is that the CA Assessor is rarely if ever the definitive source of GLA, because the Assessor responsiblity is to generate income regardless of whether an area is legally permitted. The City or County Building Department is the jurisdictional authority, which often won't have data because the improvements are too old, or too new. In those cases your judgement should supercede the Assessor data.

Caveat: Comments not intended to awaken the obvious, underlying controversy concerning "market reaction" versus "legally permitted."

 

[Tim Schneider]

Although I doubt it, I hope the other appraiser is a lurker here. No surprise, he got his cert license in '91.