How Many Double Check Sketch Before Leaving Property

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

first off chill bro im not ragging on you just looking for knowledge where i am lacking ie, mobile sketching. so far im learning its not for me and your previous post shocked my sensibilities, lol because even you pointed out im all about speed. so... we're cool, i dont think any less of you because of the way you do what you do thats your gig and it works for you so im happy for you. and yes, i have gotten a speed complaint or 20 over the years but after you open every door, take pics of every room and check what needs to be checked im done and gone and the clients are cool with my response. as far as that abomination uc bruin pointed out i guess the plurality of homes like that in my hood are paid for in cash so i dont appraise those. most of my homes are townhomes and box colonials. that probably has a lot to do with the aforementioned speed.

as far as hurry i think it goes like this. some people stress the best of the best and as they age that trait becomes more and more important to them. the sketches get even more detail. charts and graphs are added etc. thats the path that particular appraiser has chosen to go down. when i first started as a trainee i was paid to type reports for $40 per. the longer and faster i worked the more i made. that appealed to me so my chosen path has been compliant, concise, credible reports done in the quickest manner possible. when datamaster came into my life i thought i was in heaven, lol. so now a lot of people have been touting mobile sketching and that piqued my interest but the more i learn the more i know its not for me.

Well bro, you upload the sketch and form data to the cloud and download it in the office. It saves lots of time. I time myself today for a 2800 sf home. It took roughly 30 minutes including all pictures, measurements and data input. That included the search for the hidden key when I realized there was no lock box on the front door as advertised. (it was under the plug cover on the back porch-new construction). If it had been occupied, I probably would have spent an extra five minutes talking to the owner about recent updates (age of roof, kitchen remodel, etc). I don't have to fill out any of the form data or draw the sketch back at the office.

 

[Digger88]

Well bro, you upload the sketch and form data to the cloud and download it in the office. It saves lots of time. I time myself today for a 2800 sf home. It took roughly 30 minutes including all pictures, measurements and data input. That included the search for the hidden key when I realized there was no lock box on the front door as advertised. (it was under the plug cover on the back porch-new construction). If it had been occupied, I probably would have spent an extra five minutes talking to the owner about recent updates (age of roof, kitchen remodel, etc). I don't have to fill out any of the form data or draw the sketch back at the office.

so are you saying it took 30 minutes to COMPLETELY type up the entire appraisal? how do you get 1004mc data in the field? isnt it a pita to shuffle comp papers while sitting in your car?

 

[NC Appraising]

I usually give the sketch a quick "once-over" to make sure it squares up. I also measure to the nearest foot. That's accurate. Might be 6" short on 1 side, but you make up for it by being 6" long on the other. Trying to measure to the nearest 1" or .25' would drive me crazy. But to each his own.

Like the guy I trained from said when I was starting - I'll train you if you want, but I've tried to train 5 people in the past and none were able to measure a home worth a damn.

It's a good thing appraisers still go to properties. It will be a real mess when 3rd parties start measuring homes. I know if I was a "property inspector " and was going to hand off my sketch to some stooge appraiser to get a value, I wouldn't spend half the time I do measuring the home.

So it was you!!! LOL.

I measured a home for a real estate agent for listing purposes. Appraiser came out, $8,000 under the contract price. The listing agent called me up I thought you knew what you are doing!! The appraiser came in 175 sqft lower!!

So she sent me a copy of the appraisers sketch, I went back out there to confirm mine.....Dam appraiser measured each and every line to the nearest foot!!!

FWIW, how can measuring to the nearest foot be more accurate than to the nearest tenth or inch? Quick foot note: when you are done, and it closes say 1-4 tenths or inches off, just add or subtract 1 tenth or inch from the other sides. It balances it out. It is what land surveyor's do.

https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/Measurement booklet 2013.pdf
https://krec.ky.gov/legal/Legal Forms Contracts/calc_sqfootage.pdf
http://realtorreflections.com/?p=4006

Please!!! Change how you round since you are in my market. I have been in this business since 2002 and I have only ran into maybe 5 appraisers that do not round to the nearest tenth. I would say that 90% of the appraisers do not measure how you do. With the above links, how the MLS want the sqft inputted, ansi, the yellow book and how you peers are measuring..you should reconsider.

Also, I have several clients that require me to measure to ANSI. Other AMCs also state in their engagement letter that appraiser should not round to the nearest foot. I guess it is a issue in other markets as well.

 

[TRESinc]

So it was you!!! LOL.

I measured a home for a real estate agent for listing purposes. Appraiser came out, $8,000 under the contract price. The listing agent called me up I thought you knew what you are doing!! The appraiser came in 175 sqft lower!!

So she sent me a copy of the appraisers sketch, I went back out there to confirm mine.....Dam appraiser measured each and every line to the nearest foot!!!

FWIW, how can measuring to the nearest foot be more accurate than to the nearest tenth or inch? Quick foot note: when you are done, and it closes say 1-4 tenths or inches off, just add or subtract 1 tenth or inch from the other sides. It balances it out. It is what land surveyor's do.

https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/Measurement booklet 2013.pdf
https://krec.ky.gov/legal/Legal Forms Contracts/calc_sqfootage.pdf
http://realtorreflections.com/?p=4006

Please!!! Change how you round since you are in my market. I have been in this business since 2002 and I have only ran into maybe 5 appraisers that do not round to the nearest tenth. I would say that 90% of the appraisers do not measure how you do. With the above links, how the MLS want the sqft inputted, ansi, the yellow book and how you peers are measuring..you should reconsider.

Also, I have several clients that require me to measure to ANSI. Other AMCs also state in their engagement letter that appraiser should not round to the nearest foot. I guess it is a issue in other markets as well.

i have yet to see any auditor in any county i cover, or any agent on any listing, report GLA to the tenth of a foot. they are all exactly the same - whole numbers only.

 

[chad hampton]

What % difference is the 175 sf? 1,500 sf home or a 4,000 sf home? I would bet the farm that you were both wrong when it comes to the 100% true GLA, lol

I'm not measuring to the nearest 1/10 of a foot. I do go to .5 when it's clearly half a foot. It's a significant digit issue for me. I'm not an architect or a surveyor (although I've worked in offices of both). Just going down the line with more decimal points doesn't make it right. When I see an appraisers sketch and I see a bunch of #'s like 17.1, 19.9, 27.7, etc, I know the appraiser might not fully understand accuracy limitations of the measuring instruments we use for this job. But to each his own I suppose. I won't try to change anyone's way of doing things.

 

[Joe Flacco]

I measure to the foot. The important thing is that the total distance from one end of house to the other is measured to the foot.

 

[NC Appraising]

i have yet to see any auditor in any county i cover, or any agent on any listing, report GLA to the tenth of a foot. they are all exactly the same - whole numbers only.

Good for you and your market area!

I have a mind blowing idea.....ready for it? Appraisers and realtors should report the sqft in a consistent manner!!! In NC, we do (for the most part..we still have the "this is the way my mentor did it."

The NC Real Estate Commission actually bolds it!!! https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/Measurement booklet 2013.pdf
Begin at one corner of the dwelling and proceed with measuring each exterior wall. Double-check each measurement. Round off your measurements to the nearest inch (or tenth-of-a-foot if your tape indicates footage in that manner). Make a sketch of the structure. Write down each measurement as you go, and record it on your sketch. A clipboard and graph paper are helpful in sketching the dwelling and recording the measurements.


https://appraiserelearning.com/product/ansi_home_measurement_course/
http://www.granthamappraisal.net/xs...appraisal/content/uploadedFiles/GLA Paper.pdf
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/GL...MIuKThldXv2wIVySOBCh3PwwGvEAkYASABEgI2gvD_BwE

 

[Joe Flacco]

You guys not drawing on the phone with your thumb are missing out.

 

[NC Appraising]

What % difference is the 175 sf? 1,500 sf home or a 4,000 sf home? I would bet the farm that you were both wrong when it comes to the 100% true GLA, lol

I'm not measuring to the nearest 1/10 of a foot. I do go to .5 when it's clearly half a foot. It's a significant digit issue for me. I'm not an architect or a surveyor (although I've worked in offices of both). Just going down the line with more decimal points doesn't make it right. When I see an appraisers sketch and I see a bunch of #'s like 17.1, 19.9, 27.7, etc, I know the appraiser might not fully understand accuracy limitations of the measuring instruments we use for this job. But to each his own I suppose. I won't try to change anyone's way of doing things.

What? Makes no sense. I guess REALTORs and ANSI should have less confidence in us?

ANSI:



https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/Measurement booklet 2013.pdf
Begin at one corner of the dwelling and proceed with measuring each exterior wall. Double-check each measurement. Round off your measurements to the nearest inch (or tenth-of-a-foot if your tape indicates footage in that manner). Make a sketch of the structure. Write down each measurement as you go, and record it on your sketch. A clipboard and graph paper are helpful in sketching the dwelling and recording the measurements.

 

[TRESinc]

Good for you and your market area!

I have a mind blowing idea.....ready for it? Appraisers and realtors should report the sqft in a consistent manner!!! In NC, we do (for the most part..we still have the "this is the way my mentor did it."

The NC Real Estate Commission actually bolds it!!! https://www.ncrec.gov/Brochures/Measurement booklet 2013.pdf
Begin at one corner of the dwelling and proceed with measuring each exterior wall. Double-check each measurement. Round off your measurements to the nearest inch (or tenth-of-a-foot if your tape indicates footage in that manner). Make a sketch of the structure. Write down each measurement as you go, and record it on your sketch. A clipboard and graph paper are helpful in sketching the dwelling and recording the measurements.


https://appraiserelearning.com/product/ansi_home_measurement_course/
http://www.granthamappraisal.net/xsites/Appraisers/granthamappraisal/content/uploadedFiles/GLA Paper.pdf
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/GL...MIuKThldXv2wIVySOBCh3PwwGvEAkYASABEgI2gvD_BwE

not really mind blowing, that's what happens in my market already. everyone measures/rounds to the nearest foot. see for yourself if you get really bored:

http://myplace.cuyahogacounty.us/
http://www.loraincountyauditor.com/gis/

those are the 2 main counties i cover.

fwiw about 8-12 months ago the local MLS decreed to all agents that they should measure each listing according to ANSI standards and not copy the auditor and add "information is believed to be true". so far i have not seen a single agent do that. they all still pull right from the auditor and claim to do so. here is an excerpt from a random active listing: