Which Building Cost Data Service Is Best?

[bnmappraisal]

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[Doug in NC]

I use the Craftsman National Building Cost Estimator. Software, and book for off the wall stuff. Total package like $75 or so. Seems to be more accurate for my area than M&S, & a lot cheaper. Takes about 5 min per estimate and prints a nice report.

Tom, I looked into using the Craftsman service. It looks really reasonable, especially as compared to Marshall & Swift. I used the free service this time and the big problem I had with it is that you have to complete the entire process and submit it before the cost estimate is mailed to you. Not being familiar with using Craftsman, it took me 4 attempts before I received the right valuation. One or two extra "Good" ratings or too many "Average" ratings on different components can result in tens of thousands of dollars in cost estimate difference. I was doing a new construction appraisal in an established new construction neighborhood with plenty of sales, so I don't doubt my SCA value is valid.

I guess the question I have with the Craftsman service is; if you use the paid service does it allow you to tweak quality ratings before you are charged for a new valuation, or are you stuck with the valuation no matter what it comes out at for each cost valuation?

 

[BarrySW1963]

[QUOTE="Terrel L. Shields, post: 2705654, member: 67077"...There is something called the purity of application. It implies that so long as you use a similar method across the entire spectrum of you work, then the results should be credible. So if I use the book to make judgments about "costs" or even depreciated costs, and I apply the same metrics to my comparables (regarding quality, condition, etc.) then again, I should have a consistent product....[/QUOTE]

This is an important point. I also do the CA on every assignment (almost all on the 1004).

I use M&S "swiftestimator" plug-in via a la mode. It costs $75/month which in my opinion, is ridiculous. And yet, I keep paying it because I keep using it because I like it. I would like to better, though, if they (CoreLogic) were responsive to my suggestions for improving it (it needs the ability to back out the included-at-this-level floor coverings, for example, when a property has upgraded flooring, and it needs granularity within quality levels).

I've used the M&S online version when it was $11 a pop, which IMHO was even more ridiculous. That version, however, has a lot more granularity of control, and can be fascinating to fiddle with.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Not being familiar with using Craftsman, it took me 4 attempts before I received the right valuation. One or two extra "Good" ratings or too many "Average" ratings on different components can result in tens of thousands of dollars in cost estimate difference.

M & S, etc. all rely upon "plugging in" the right quality attributes. That was one good reason to like the old Boeckh system (RIP) because it gave you the option of running two methods. One a SF based valuation, the other a valuation based on style and room count and "style" in the case of Boeckh included a base age assessment. The two were usually close as most cost approaches are "close". I found Means to also be as accurate, so at one point Boeckh, M & S, R S Means, and NBC were all available and using my own house as a proxy, was reasonably good at valuing it and all were within 10% of what the RCN should have been (that is based on using historical modifier to take the actual cost of the house and extrapolating it to the present).

Most homes here where market extraction is possible were described at average in NBC, cheaper homes were Low, and McMansion type houses rarely exceeded average with a few good sprinkled in the description.

 

[Artemis Fowl]

http://www.michigan.gov/treasury/0,4679,7-121-1751_2228-114504--,00.html
Michigan Assessor Manual. Should look pretty familiar to M&S users...because it's from M&S. Manual should be updated this year and new plug-in for our software.

 

[Elliott]

Any cost service is just an expoential curve. Figure out the curve and set it to your local cost when you do a new house. That in my opinion is the most reliable cost service. Its explainable and consistent.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Any cost service is just an expoential curve

Yep, just plot data point in Excel and then roll through the mapping equations to get the one that has 100% R squared.