How Many Of Of You Use The Assessor Sketch?

[Bobby Bucks]

TC I believe Dr. Jekyl dismissed the class yesterday. The problem is that Mr. Hyde has only begun. :lol:

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Bobby,

7. BE PROFESSIONAL. Do not attack someone for a post they have made. Do not post anything about someone that you would not say to their face! If you have something negative to say about someone then contact them directly, DO NOT POST IT HERE! Do not post anything here that you would not want your grandmother or your daughter to read! THINK BEFORE YOU POST, USE COMMON COURTESY, AND BE NICE!

 

[TC]

Hey Duckie Boy, somebody put salt on your tail? B)

 

[Scott Kibler]

Looks like these Texicans are about due for a good old fashioned showdown.

 

[Robert Dunkle]

I got in late on this one, but here goes! Someone posted garbage in---garbage out. Sometimes our assessor sketches are garbage. I use the assessor's sketch....... to draw out my rough draft for my measurements. It allows me to have a good idea of the crooks and turns the house has before I go through it so I can place the rooms correctly. I can check their figures as I go along and double check my figures if I am not close to theirs. Beyond that, I place no reliance on them at all. I have taped houses with as much as 500 square feet plus or minus the assessor's sketch. Sure would hate to try to defend that in court!! In each case of the larger errors, I have taken others with me to retape them or found other, independent appraisals that were very close to my total square footage.

When I am risking my certification, I am going to do the measuring!!!

 

[Mike Phillips]

Failing to review the tax assessors floor plan and measurements, if available is simply foolish. Same goes for surveys.

I always download and print the TA's floor plan and I always ask the property owner if they have a survey. They save me lots of time. Then I verify the measurements - I run my tape over at least the length and width. If I see a material difference I measure all four sides.

The only issue is that the TA rounds to the nearest foot. If done consistently, this doesn't amount to a significant error. They can be 3% off on a 1500 SF home and it doesn't matter - I don't adjust for less than a 50 SF difference and for larger homes 100 or 200 feet. The market doesn't recognize the difference anyway.

All the supposed accuracy I hear some of you debate regarding the subject property is just BS because you don't measure your comps - do you? Frankly, I'd like to see more attention paid to verifying closed sales through two sources and the use of MLS data.

The one good thing about the new form IMO is that it sends a wakeup call to skippy and spawn that if you don't have access to MLS data you better get it soon becasue for many many market areas it is VERY, VERY relevant. And on the subject of correct SFLA, many MLS listings include remarks about enclosed/converted areas that should be included in living area.

Mike

 

[Scott Fleming]

Tim,

I am sure that you are aware of this, but this is taken from the Harris CAD:

Skyline courtesy of www.hudsonphoto.com Tuesday, November 08, 2005



Account Number Address Owner Name ?

13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, Texas 77040
For Additional Information Contact:
Jim Robinson
Chief Appraiser
(713) 957-5291


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, June 20, 2005
For IMMEDIATE Release
New legislation requires HCAD to remove residential sketches from our website
As the result of legislation recently enacted by the 79th Texas Legislature, some information formerly carried in the property records on appraisal district websites will no longer be available over the Internet.


SB 541, effective September 1, 2005, provides that appraisal district websites cannot display photographs, sketches, or floor plans of an improvement to real property that is designed primarily for use as a human residence. Likewise, aerial photography of residential property will also be unavailable unless the photo depicts five or more separately owned buildings.


On the Harris County Appraisal District website, www.hcad.org, the change will impact only residential sketches. HCAD had not previously placed property photos on its website.


The bill was passed as a public safety measure to guard against the possibility that thieves or burglars might use the residential photographs or sketches to help plan crimes in residential areas. While the information will no longer be available on appraisal district websites, it can be accessed under the Texas Public Information Act if the person wishing to see it comes in person to the appraisal district office.

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What I heard was that some rich guy in the Dallas area got his panties in a knot when he found out that an exterior sketch was available and complained to his state rep or somebody. The sketches are still available on line through other sources, but in answer to your question, I never used their sketches. They have minimum wage people measuring to the nearest foot, not accessing the interior, garages and some times it appears not even the back yard.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

Yes, Scott.

Poor Dallas county just spent the last two years adding photos of all the residential properties to their site and had to remove them due to the new laws.

 

[David Taylor2]

In the late 1970's, if memory serves, our assessor had to measure all the properties in the county - don't remember exactly why.

The assessor contracted the measuring out at ninety-five cents per house.

They would not go inside any houses - houses with a 2nd level are 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, or 2 stories. They just applied this factor to the first floor LA.

Locked gate, mean dog, etc. - for $0.95 you can bet they guessed.

 

[Scott Fleming]

Originally posted by Tim Hicks (Texas)@Nov 8 2005, 12:23 PM
Yes, Scott.

Poor Dallas county just spent the last two years adding photos of all the residential properties to their site and had to remove them due to the new laws.

Tim,

I had heard that Dallas County had done all of the photography. What a shame that some rich guy can get in a dither and affect policy that could benifit a lot of people. (Zaio.com is currently photographing all of the residential and commercial properties in the Dallas area, as well as many other areas and these should be on line, for a fee in the near future - dis me all you like, I think that Zaio is a good outfit) Harris County never had photos or floor plans, just an exterior sketch that was really not of much use if the home was more than one story. On the one stories, I would sometimes rough out the exterior dimentions from the on line sketch and add the actual dimentions in the field.

In Harris and some surrounding counties, Stewart Title still has the sketches on line. You may want to check them out if it is of any interest to you.