One small part of what real estate appraisers do is measure homes to calculate the living area or “square footage.” The standard that is typically used by most home appraisers to measure and calculate living area is provided by ANSI (American National Standard Institute). However, in this post I’m focusing on the geometry and simple math of determining the total area.
Normally, appraisers draw homes using software that automatically calculates the area. Our company recently measured a home of an engineer by using just such software. After examining the computer generated home sketch, the engineer said that the upper level of his home (shown in the illustration above) had been incorrectly calculated. He then provided his handwritten calculations as support.
When I heard this, my stomach knotted up and I thought, “Did this engineer find a bug in our software?” A Quality Appraisal associates measure many homes each year all around the Portland area. I thought, “Is this an isolated bug or something that could have caused errors in hundreds of appraisals or measurements?” We don’t manually check the calculations of the software on all of our measurements before they are delivered to a client. Maybe we should.
I could not wait to get back to my office and check for myself. Once in the office, I deconstructed the drawing into five smaller shapes (a composite figure and some appraiser software will do this automatically) and then I was able to easily calculate the area as shown in the figure above. To my relief, I came up with exactly the same number as the software total for the upper level. After this experience, I concluded it is good practice for appraisers to occasionally check the calculations totaled by our sketching software. For more information on how to deconstruct a composite figure and add up the individual areas, here is a short helpful video from Mathtrain.TV.
Did I leave anything out or do you want to join in the conversation? Let me know in the comments below.
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A few weeks ago appraiser blogger Tom Horn wrote about a great tool that appraisers should carry to check electrical circuits. That article got me thinking today when I pulled an important appraiser tool out of my car. I don’t use it often, but when I do, I’m not sure what I would do without it. Today I used my angle finder.
Once in a while I run across homes that are built on angles that are not 90 degrees or 45 degrees. When that happens, it is important to measure the angle so that the shape is drawn correctly into the computer, so the sketch closes, and the resultant square footage estimate is accurate.
Often angles can be measured by obtaining the rise and the run of the wall. However, this can be difficult if the length of the angled wall is long and there is little perspective to square up the rise and run measurement. The tool that I use is a digital angle finder from Amazon that fits easily into my pocket (when I think I might need it) and costs only about $20. One nice feature of this gauge is the reverse angle button that allows me to switch to the angle of incidence (the angle that drawing programs use for an input). There are other less expensive options available as well like an angle finder from Harbor Freight for under five dollars.
To insert the reading of the angle finder into an a la mode Total sketch, I simply draw a line and then select Tools, then Draw Angle to Left or Draw Angle to Right, and input the angle into the dialogue box. Angles can also be selected by clicking Modify and dragging the line to the desired angle, or by using the following key strokes (for the above example): 15 (length of wall), R (direction of angle), 31 (angle), Enter.
Here is a link to an a la mode training video that covers the two ways to draw angles with Total Sketch.
Did I leave anything out or do you want to join in the conversation? Let me know in the comments below. If you need a home measured, try our measurement floor plan sketching service (some call it “Room Service”).
Lately I have been writing about appraiser home measurement and floor plan sketching services (some Portland, OR agents call it “Room Service”). This week’s blog shares one example of a recently measured property that had had a significant discrepancy between the county records and actual measurements.
The above illustration shows my floor plan measurement on the left and the county records on the right, as well as a table comparing the two on the far right. By looking at the floor plans closely, you will note some important differences. First, the entire home is about four feet wider than the county records show. This is most evident when comparing the wall between the finished area of the house and the garage. Another significant difference is that the county shows the wrong location for one of the turrets on the second floor. These variations, and other smaller discrepancies, result in the county having 275 fewer square feet on record for this property.
What could have caused the disagreement between appraiser measurements and the county? I can only speculate in the case of this property. It is quite possible that the county used plans submitted at the time of construction for the living area calculation, and that the owner or builder made modifications to the plans after obtaining permits. Because of this experience, and many other similar ones, I have learned to always double check critical data regardless of the source.
You are getting ready to list your home for sale and the real estate agent suggests that you have a floor plan measurement sketch done by an appraiser. Some real estate appraisers and agents in Portland, Oregon call floor plans “Room Service.” Floor plans are a great idea to assist in marketing your property attractively and accurately. A diagram helps buyers visualize the layout of the house before they visit it.
When an appraiser measures a home in Portland, most often the measurements turn out to be slightly larger than county records show. However, in this example, the appraiser spends over an hour at your property and produces a beautiful drawing, but the measurements are smaller than those that are recorded by the county or other sources. What should you do?
Understand that it is better to advertise the correct square footage. Listing the property with overstated measurements could increase liability, cause a frustratingly low appraisal, result in a failed sale, or lead to increased buyer negotiating leverage.
Put it in perspective. By how much is the square footage smaller? Many buyers will not even recognize a loss of only 50 or 100 square feet. Small variations in measurements from one appraiser to the next are common and are usually insignificant, often resulting from rounding.
If you think that the appraiser has made an error, use the floor plan sketch to go around the house and individually check the measurements. Remember that areas are typically measured from the outside. In addition, stairs are included in all levels but finished areas less than five feet in ceiling height (common under the roof slope in attics) are not (when using ANSI). I recommend checking to see if things make sense. For example, if you know that the second floor occupies the same footprint as the main floor, check to see that those measurements are the same on both floors.