Home sketch data base services

[davidpsmith1]

Is anyone aware of subscriber service that have existing home sketches for sale? I am a certified appraiser but currently work as a Risk Manager for an insurance company. I recently had an appraiser in my home for a Refi(for landlord, not me) and he came in with a sketch for my home that was already developed. I asked where he got it from and he said it was a subscriber service and that there were many of them. They charge a few buck each. I asked him to send me the sites and never heard from him. I didn't have a ton of faith in him since he told me he gets 3 times the normal fee for an appraisal and won't work for any less. He used the sketch he had, verified a few measurements and took photos. I'm only interested because my current company is looking for a measurement data base and thought the sites he uses may be a good option. Thanks for reading and any responses.

 

[alebrewer]

Most of the county appraisal districts in north Texas have sketches of the homes in their database - managed, of course, by CoreLogic. Below is mine from Grayson CAD/Realist. They're not usually accurate, but are a good reference, keeping the appraiser from having to draw from scratch. Measurements have to be verified of course.

 

[Overimprovement]

There's only two places a sketch can come from.
1) Your county assessor/PVA/auditor. Check your county and see if your home has a sketch on it. See if it matches what this appraiser had.
2) Another appraiser, who has either sold the sketch (unlikely), or it was data-mined by CoreLogic, Fannie, or another company for its sketch.

A possible 3rd is if a house has been listed, a realtor may measure out a property and sell that data to a third party, but if that is going on, I have not heard about it yet.

 

[Fernando]

I for one do not want a sketch of my house in public domain. Other homes I don't mind since it helps my appraisal. I'm seeing some MLS having sketches as part of their photos. It's good for appraisers but I'm wary of buyers being happy with a sketch of their home forever in the internet.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

for one do not want a sketch of my house in public domain.

Most disclosure states have them on the assessor's field card. In my home county, there are 3 compilers who post a summary of the assessor's field card that includes the sketch, a photo, and even a map usually.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

taxnetusa.com will sell you access data to their sketches

 

[Rlong]

taxnetusa.com will sell you access data to their sketches

Looks like they cover Texas and Florida; OP is in Texas so there you go.

In my area the adjacent county posts them on the assessor site, didn't use to take them in the field, but now almost always print them. Helps with second floor etc. Based on my measurements they are pretty accurate. I believe they are from builder plans with the measurements to framing as most builder plans are. So home is usually 0.1 - 0.3 larger. My own county does not have them online nor do I think they are available otherwise (you can go in and get a copy of the "card") .

 

[Mike Ault]

Looks like they cover Texas and Florida; OP is in Texas so there you go.

My own county does not have them online nor do I think they are available otherwise (you can go in and get a copy of the "card") .

My primary counties don't have the sketches online either as that is not legal in Texas however they allowed me to set up a fax account where they would fax the cards including the assessor sketch for $0.10 apiece. After fax machines were retired they just started emailing them to me instead. You might check to see if your counties will do the same. I find them invaluable to explain to the property owners looking over my shoulder why my square footage differs from the County assessors, that's one advantage to tablet appraising where you sketch them on-site and check for discrepancies.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Be prepared to see a lot of garbage assessor sketches in Texas. Sometimes, I pull them up and wonder where they got their measurements because they don't remotely resemble what I physically measured.

 

[Fernando]

I was reviewing an appraisal I'll be seeing tomorrow and it's a killer floor plan with so many angles. Ugh..
I need a sketch to help since I get confuse easily. I checked the MLS and found a similar house in which agent had a sketch from The Home Depot. It's better than nothing.