The ANSI Standard for Measuring Houses

In April, 1996 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) adopted a standard for measuring single-family residential buildings. American National Standard Z765-1996 was developed through a process of consensus among a wide variety of participants. These included the American Institute of Architects, the Appraisal Foundation, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Manufactured Housing Institute, the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD and others.

The ANSI standards are not law, only a voluntary guide, and are subject to periodic review and revision. But anyone using these standards must apply them as a whole, and not just pick out the parts they like or agree with. The standards are intended for both attached and detached single family residences, but not for apartments or multi-family residences.

The ANSI standards base floor area calculations on the exterior dimensions of the building at each floor level, and include all interior walls and voids. For attached units, the outside dimension is the center line of the common walls. Internal room dimensions aren’t used in this system of measuring.

The ANSI standards define “finished area” as “an enclosed area in a house suitable for year-round use, embodying walls, floors, and ceilings that are similar to the rest of the house.” Measurements must be taken to the nearest inch or tenth of a foot, and floor area must be reported to the nearest square foot. Garages are specifically excluded.



How to Measure a House

Measuring a house is not that hard. For most houses, it’s an easy one-person job. However, if someone offers to help, you can always let them hold the “dumb” end of the tape. All you need is a little practice and the following tools.

a 100-foot measuring tape (fiberglass tapes work the best)
a sturdy 25-foot retractable steel measuring tape (like the ones carpenters use)
a letter-size tablet of graph paper (10 squares per inch works best for most houses)
a pencil
If you measure a lot of houses, you should upgrade your tool kit with the following items.


measuring tapes graduated in tenths of a foot (instead of inches)
an adjustable gauge for measuring unusual corner angles (such as the “Mite-R-Gage” by Nowlin, Inc.)
a computer program such as “Apex” or “Winsketch”
a medium-size standard screwdriver
Always start by measuring the outside of the house.


Begin measuring from any corner and work your way around the house. Move counter-clockwise so the numbers on your tape will be right-side-up.
Measure the exterior of the house to the nearest inch or tenth of an inch. Measure from the exterior face of the walls. Include any features that are on the same level as the floor, such as chimneys and bay windows. Do not include the thickness of any corner trim pieces or greenhouse windows that don’t have a corresponding floor level. * Use the 100-foot tape for long wall sections and the 25-foot tape for short sections.
If you can’t get close to a wall because of landscaping or other obstacles, use your screwdriver to anchor the 100-foot tape on the ground away from the wall.
Draw the dimensions on the graph paper as you go, with each square representing one foot. If you measure correctly you should arrive at the exact point of beginning on your graph paper. If not, re-measure.
Draw a separate floor plan for each level in the house. Don’t assume that each floor is identical. Check for floors that overhang or are recessed.
When you are finished measuring the outside of the house, go inside and decide what to include and what not to include on each level.


If there is an attached garage, exclude it. It’s not part of the finished floor area. Use the interior wall surface of the garage next to the house as the outside wall of the house.

If there are stairs, include them on every level they serve.
When there are openings to the floor below, subtract the opening from that level.
For split-level designs, measure each level. You can lump multiple floor surfaces into one level if they are within two feet of each other.
Exclude any areas, such as porches and converted garages, that are not finished or heated the same as the rest of the house.


Basements and Below-Grade Floor Areas

The ANSI standards make a strong distinction between above-grade and below-grade floor area. The above-grade floor area is the sum of all finished square footage which is entirely above ground level. The below-grade floor area includes spaces which are wholly or partly below ground level.

Disregard the old rules of thumb that allow you to include below-grade areas if they are less than five feet below grade, or if less than half the area is below grade. If the house has any areas below the natural grade, measure that whole level separately. Even if the below-grade areas are fully finished, they are not part of the finished floor area according to ANSI standards.



Attics, Lofts and Low Ceilings

Level ceilings must be at least 7 feet high, and at least 6 feet 4 inches under beams, ducts and other obstructions. There is no height restriction under stairs. If a room has a sloped ceiling, at least one-half of the finished floor area must have a ceiling height of at least 7 feet. Otherwise, omit the entire room from the floor area calculations. If a room with a sloped ceiling meets the one-half-of-floor-area-over-7-feet requirement, then include all the floor space with a ceiling height over 5 feet.

Lofts and finished attics must be accessible by a conventional stairway or other access to be counted. If you can only reach the loft by climbing a ladder, it’s not part of the finished floor area regardless of the ceiling height.



Detached Rooms, Guest Cottages, Granny Units and Dwelling Units

According to the ANSI standards, finished areas which are not connected to the main residence by a finished hall or stairway must be listed separately. If you have to leave the house to get to the room, it’s not part of the finished floor area.

The Mendocino County Zoning Ordinance defines several types of detached living areas. The County calls these “detached bedrooms,” “guest cottages,” “family care units (granny units)” and “dwelling units.”

A detached bedroom is a separate structure containing one room only without a kitchen or bathroom. It must be designed for and intended to be used as a sleeping or living facility for family members. It must be used in conjunction with the main house which includes a kitchen and a bathroom. Detached bedrooms can’t be located farther than 150 feet from the main house and can’t exceed 500 square feet in floor area.

A guest cottage is like a detached bedroom with a bathroom, but no kitchen. It can’t exceed 640 square feet in floor area and must be a permanent structure, not a trailer or mobile home. It can’t have a kitchen, wet bar or any provision for appliances for the storage or preparation of food. It must be clearly subordinate and incidental to the main house. Guest cottages can’t be rental units. They must be used without compensation by guests of the occupants of the main house.

A family care unit (sometimes called a granny unit) is determined more by use than design. It is the temporary use of a building, structure or trailer to provide housing for the following.


not more than two adults who are 60 years of age or older; or
immediate family members who require daily supervision and care; or
people who provide daily supervision and care for the people who reside in the main residence

A full dwelling unit is a single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more people, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation. A dwelling unit can have only one kitchen.



Room Counts, Bedrooms and Bathrooms

The real estate profession often describes houses by their total room count, the number of bedrooms and the number of bathrooms they contain. For example, the shorthand convention “5/2/1.5” describes a house with 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms.

Local custom determines the definition of a “room.” In general, a room is a kitchen, a bedroom, a living room, a dining room, a family room, an office or a den. Bathrooms, laundry rooms, sun rooms, lofts, closets, storage rooms and entries are not usually considered to be rooms.

What is the difference between a den and a bedroom? If the den can function as a bedroom, there may be no difference at all. What is the difference between a dining area and a dining room? If you could add walls and it would remain functionally the same, a dining area can be called a dining room.

A bedroom is any room that you can fit a conventional bed into. Usually the local zoning, building or health codes establish minimum requirements for bedrooms. In general, bedrooms should be at least 90 square feet in size, with at least one bedroom in the house 120 square feet in size. Bedrooms should have a window which provides an emergency exit, natural light and ventilation.

Bedrooms should have direct access to a hallway, living room or other common area. You should not have to walk through one bedroom to get to another. A bedroom should have a closet, but this is optional. Before closets, people stored their clothes in armoires and dressers.

Local custom also defines the bathroom. In most parts of the country, a full bathroom includes a toilet, a sink, a bathtub and a shower. A combination bath and shower counts as two fixtures. If the bathroom has only three fixtures it is a 3/4 bath. If it has only two fixtures it is a 1/2 bath, and if it has only one it is a 1/4 bath.



Summary

As more real estate listings are posted on the Internet, it’s likely that consumers will expect some national standards for measuring houses and counting rooms. Also, the new EDI (electronic data interchange) technology being adopted by lenders will require some common standards. Realtorsã who measure houses correctly and accurately will help raise the standards of the profession and improve consumer confidence.

A 16-page booklet describing the ANSI standards with examples and illustrations can be purchased for $20.00 (plus $4.00 shipping and handling) from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center in Maryland at 301-249-4000.




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

Chet Boddy, Real Estate Appraisal, Sales and Consulting


43300 LR Airport Road, #59, Little River, CA 95456
707-937-4011, office
707-937-4818, fax


chet@chetboddy.com

ANSI Z765 was updated in 2003

the document can also be purchased online and downloadd as a .pdf

OCTOBER 2006 ISSUE #6 "Ask the Appraiser"

MEASURING HOUSES.

A very important part of the appraisal process, is measuring the house to determine its correct GLA or Gross Living Area. GLA is an integral part of the process, because without it the appraiser cannot accurately determine its value and would not know which comparable properties would be suitable for a particular assignment.

The GLA should be a very important part of the listing and selling process for Realtors, sellers and buyers, alike.

Realtors should always determine the size of a dwelling when they list it. They should not rely on the tax rolls, title or other data, because more often than not, these data are not always accurate. There can be many reasons for incorrectly listed data, additions/reductions of the dwelling, input errors, unpermitted construction, rounding, or no GLA data at all.

If the GLA listing on the MLS is not correct and the listing agent does not disclose any differences, There is a possibility of misrepresentation of a material fact. This can result in the buyer paying less money for a larger house, OR more money for a smaller house.

Incorrectly stating GLA, can also have very serious legal implications. There are many court cases which address buyers who purchased homes and sued Realtors and sellers because they purchased homes that were incorrectly disclosed on MLS and other documents.

The following article is being reprinted for the information of all readers, appraisers, Realtors and laypeople, alike.
This article is reprinted courtesy of Senior Appraiser, Patrick J. Butler, CRP. Mr Butler is a highly credentialed and published real estate appraiser. Recent articles by Mr. Butler. Mr. Butler is with Appraisal Services, Inc., Montgomery , IL . He can be reached at (630) 897-2088 or pat@appraisalservices.com


MEASURING UP: W HAT TO DO WHEN APPRAISALS DIFFER
B Y: P A T R I C K J. B U T L E R
An important part of the appraisal review process performed by relocation companies and others is ensuring that both appraisers submitting reports have calculated a mostly similar amount of gross living area for the subject property.

Likewise, it’s important for every appraiser to understand why their sketches can vary from other appraisers, even when both are done “by the book.”

A reviewer might need to determine whether an appraiser made a measuring mistake or whether differences in each sketch are simply a result of different measuring techniques. Insurance underwriters also reveal that measuring mistakes are one of the most common reasons appraisers get sued.
This article will introduce you to some inherent problems in the measuring process, allowing you to complete (or review) property sketches with an understanding of what problems might occur when measuring a particular house.

Because many organizations require a fixed limit on how close two appraiser’s size calculations must be- 100 square feet for example, accurately measuring properties becomes exceedingly important. After reading this article, you may decide a relative amount, such as a five percent difference, is a better strategy. To illustrate, a 100 square foot difference on a 2,000 square foot home (five percent) makes sense but what about a 100 square foot difference on a 5,600 square foot home?

Significance of Small Mistakes
Some of the measuring situations mentioned here may result in an appraiser being off on a measurement by only a few inches and this does not seem like much. However, remember that a house sketch might be comprised of dozens of small line segments, and those one- or two-inch mistakes add up if they are all in one direction. Also, the gross living area of a house is comprised of area calculations in which width measurements are multiplied by depth measurements—multiplying the effect of any mistakes.

Finally, there are some appraisers who insist on rounding their measurements to the nearest six inches or even a foot. A one-inch error can therefore result in a six-inch mistake if it causes the appraiser to round up or down in the wrong direction. Now multiply that six-inch mistake by the 50-foot length of a sample house and suddenly that one-inch mistake just affected the living area by 25 square feet. An appraiser who rounds to the nearest foot just made a 50-square-foot mistake by being off on only one measurement out of dozens that are likely to be made.

Pulling your Tape Tightly
Fiberglass measuring tapes are probably the most common measuring tool in an appraiser’s arsenal. Fiberglass models are preferable to steel tape models because they are less apt to scratch something when pulled around inside a house. Fiberglass has a tendency to stretch more easily than steel tape. Two people can get a different measurement depending on how tightly they pull the tape.

The stretch is usually less than an inch but that can be a critical amount for an appraiser who rounds his or her measurements to the nearest six-inch interval. Does one of your sketches have measurements that are consistently shorter than the measurements of another appraisal? It could simply be a difference in how tightly one appraiser is pulling his or her tape.

If this sort of difference in measuring has caused the sketches to differ quite a bit in their living areas, it might be necessary to have one of the appraisers re-check his or her measurements. That might actually require another trip to the subject property.You probably can get a good idea of which appraiser did a better job measuring based on your interviews with them. That will help you decide who needs to be encouraged to double-check his or her work.

Rolling Wheel
Some appraisers measure using a rolling wheel. These are commonly available with either small or large wheel diameters. A smaller-wheeled model is better for measuring the exterior of a house because it can be rolled in closer to an inside corner. Some of the larger-wheeled models have a 12-inch diameter wheel and can be rolled only within six or seven inches of an inside corner. A larger-wheeled model is more useful for taking long-distance site measurements over rough terrain, where the larger wheel is less apt to slip as it is rolling.

When measuring a wall with an inside corner, the appraiser needs some sort of reference point on the wheel itself to know when one revolution has been completed. The appraiser needs to carefully line up the reference line over the corner of the house and make sure he or she considers where the reference mark ends after the wheel has traveled the length of the wall. This will allow the appraiser to measure the final distance between the reference mark and the inside corner. Overall, rolling wheel measuring tools are among the least accurate devices available because the diameter of the wheel reduces the ability to measure into tight corners.

Another error made with rolling wheels is when an appraiser rolls the device along the sloping surface of the ground rather than against the house. In this instance, the appraiser actually is measuring the slope line of the ground, which will be a longer distance compared with the actual width of the house.

Carefully view the exterior photographs of the subject property to see if there are any sloping areas that might have contributed to measuring errors. If you are comparing two appraisals with differing amounts of living area, it might be a good idea to ask your appraisers what types of measuring devices they used. The “wheel-roller” appraiser might want to double-check his or her measurements using a fiberglass tape.

Lasers
Laser and ultrasonic tape measuring devices are becoming the measuring tools of choice for the modern appraiser. Ultrasonic measuring devices are less expensive than laser tools and are becoming more commonly used by appraisers. Ultrasonic devices rely on sound wave transmissions through the air and measurements can be affected by changes in temperature. Thus, two appraisers can acquire different measurements depending on the temperature of the room they are in. The targeting beam of most ultrasonic devices can be large in diameter—that can result in inaccurate measurements if it is unclear where the invisible beam hit.
Most of the ultrasonic devices are designed for the mass consumer market and are likely to have quality issues. Many appraisers and real estate agents who use these devices will tell you that they seem to become less accurate over time.

While expensive, laser measuring devices are the tool of choice for any appraiser desiring the utmost accuracy. One popular model used by appraisers is the Disto by Leica. These devices were used in the surveying profession long before they became popular with appraisers. As a result, most laser devices have a rugged design and generally are a higher quality than ultrasonic devices. Most laser measuring tools will project a red laser dot onto the target so the appraiser knows exactly where he or she is measuring. Some even have built-in scopes so an appraiser can visually line up the red laser dot over a long distance.

If an appraiser is properly using one of these laser tools to measure a house, you generally can expect more accurate measurements compared with the other types of devices. If you are trying to reconcile two sketches with different measurements, it would be a good idea to ask each appraiser what tools they used to measure the house.

Trouble Spots
Some characteristics of a house can cause measuring problems. Appraisers are taught to measure the outside dimensions of a house—that is where the term “gross” comes from in gross living area. The exterior dimensions assist the appraiser in developing the cost approach when it is needed. Of course, the cost approach is not required for a Worldwide ERC® appraisal but appraisers still use the same measuring techniques.

Problems start to occur when the outside walls of a house have varying thicknesses of materials. A common example is when a portion of the house has face brick installed on only the lower portion of the wall. One appraiser may include the face brick when measuring while another may not. Unfortunately, there are no standards indicating the correct way to measure a wall with differing thicknesses.

If you compare two sketches and see that one appraiser has a wall length that is three to four inches longer than the other appraiser, look at the photo of the house—if you see a wall partially covered in face brick, then you will know the source of the difference between the two sketches.

Decorative stonework creates the same type of problem: large stones have differing thicknesses that can easily cause two appraisers to be off from each other by four to six inches on one wall. One of the best solutions to the differing wall thickness problem is for the appraiser to keep track of how he or she has been accounting for differing thicknesses and change measuring methods on opposing walls so that the overall thickness of a particular wall segment represents an average thickness.

Lap siding can create another type of measuring problem. Lap siding is the horizontal siding on a house where each subsequent board partially overlaps the one below it. If you look head-on at the corners of a house with lap siding, they usually are tapered—that is, the top edge of one piece of siding is narrower than it s bottom edge. Two appraisers measuring the same end of lap siding can obtain different measurements depending on where they attach their tape measures. It is usually a good idea to attach the tape measure to the middle section of the siding to obtain an overall average reading.

The corners of a house present another problem. Vinyl or aluminum siding have corner pieces installed at every outside corner of the house; wood siding also can have similar corner pieces installed. Those corner pieces usually add an inch or two to the length of the corresponding wall section.
Some appraisers will include the thickness of the corner pieces while others will ignore it. Sometimes those corner pieces will be installed rather loosely—it is imperative the appraiser pull the tape measure especially tight so the corner piece is pulled tightly against the house. Look carefully at the house photos to see if there are corner pieces installed or if the corners of the house just have butt joints.

Not so Square
A new appraiser quickly realizes that many houses are not built square—this becomes most apparent when the appraiser starts to draw the sketch on his or her computer. Suddenly, the sketch does not “close” completely, despite the appraiser typing in all the correct measurements. Few appraisers will draw a sketch that shows the reality of a crooked house—most appraisers will fudge the sketch so the entire house comes out square. That has become an acceptable solution to the problem—most appraisers square up their sketches.

Nonetheless, the practice does result in otherwise absolute measurements getting a little distorted. Despite the best intentions during the measuring process, accuracy gets lowered as a result of the appraiser squaring things up.

Sometimes an appraiser is simply unable to directly measure part of the exterior of a house. The second story of a house can be troublesome if there are no good reference points to line up with on the first story of the house. That can happen if there is a room or closet on the second level of a house that is partially projected out over the first story of the house.

Some rooms may project out over the garage but not have a window on that particular wall, leaving no visual reference on the exterior of the house. In that instance, the appraiser might have to take interior measurements of the house and convert those into exterior measurements by adding the wall thickness to the interior measurements. Walls commonly range from five to eight inches thick. A problem occurs with this approach when it is difficult to measure the wall thickness because of an uneven surface, such as a stone veneer.

Wall Thickness
Different appraisers are bound to get varying measurements for the average thickness of the exterior wall of the house. Many high-end houses will have features such as walk-in closets or bathrooms that blend into the outside elevation of the house. Pay particular attention to these problem areas on a sketch and you likely will see some variation in measurements between different appraisers.

“Gross Living Area (GLA) is the calculation of the total living area in the residence, expressed in square footage. This is calculated using exterior measurements (except condominiums and cooperatives), and is generally limited to the habitable above-grade living area only. Basement and attic areas (finished and unfinished) are not included in GLA, room and bath counts. However, they may make a valuable and significant contribution to the property value, and should be calculated and shown separately in the report.” - Worldwide ERC® Guideline #5 from the Relocation Appraisal Guide

A decision has to be made when an appraiser starts to account for wall thicknesses: does the appraiser only consider the exterior wall thickness or should he or she also consider interior wall thicknesses when drawing an area of a house?

Let us take an open two-story foyer, for instance. The appraiser might take an interior depth measurement toward the front of the house and then add the exterior wall thickness. Should the appraiser also add any sort of wall thickness to the width of the open foyer where it does not run against an outside wall?

There is no standard to apply when answering that question, so you might see two sketches of the same foyer with different depths and widths. The issue of how the wall thickness is handled lends itself to measuring inconsistencies and sketching difficulties. All you can do as a reviewer is make sure that both appraisers are within a foot difference of each other.
Most appraisal sketching programs do not give appraisers much control over wall thicknesses. Many simply draw a thin line and it is not apparent if the line represents the inside or outside of a wall section. The appraiser lines up different levels of the house by drawing lines on top of each other but it is not exactly clear whether the interior or exterior of the wall is being lined up.
That is in contrast to computer-aided design (CAD) programs that do take the wall thicknesses into consideration and allow the user to precisely line up the appropriate areas. An appraiser wanting the utmost accuracy with his or her sketch might be hampered by his or her sketching software.

The Unit
An appraiser has to make a decision on what unit of measurement is going to be used in measuring a house. Is a common fractional measurement system (sixteenths of an inch) going to be used or are all measurements going to be taken in tenths of an inch? Most sketching programs allow data entry in either method but rounding errors will occur if the appraiser enters dimensions in a unit other than what is being used in the sketch program.
For example, it is obvious that six inches equals exactly half a foot. But what happens when an appraiser needs to draw an eight-inch line on the sketch? An eight-inch line is about 0.667 feet, but most sketch programs do not retain that many significant digits. So eight inches might get converted into 0.7 feet. The measurement has been slightly changed as a result of the conversion process.

Conventional tape measures are available in tenths and most electronic measuring devices also allow for changing the units. The appraiser should be recording measurements in the same unit that is going to be used when sketching. There are quite a few appraisers doing sketches to the tenth of an inch who are using conventional tape measures that only allow fractional measurements.

Standards
ANSI Z765-2003 is the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) standard that covers the measuring process and is available from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center at www.nahbrc.org. Unfortunately, it does not address the majority of issues mentioned in this article. It does provide a bit of clarification on how to properly measure an open area such as a two-story foyer and when to include small areas such as walk-in closets. It requires that any openings to the floor below not be included as finished square footage. However, the appraiser can include the area of the stairs themselves.

You never can be sure if any two appraisers are following the same standard because adherence to the ANSI standard is voluntary. However, the Worldwide ERC® Relocation Appraisal Guide contains its own definition of gross living area that appraisers must adhere to for providing standardization. It is very similar to the ANSI standard in that it requires exterior measurements of the above-grade habitable areas.

Basement and attic areas are not included in the calculation of gross living area. However, those areas might contribute to value and can be given value elsewhere in the appraisal report. Open areas of a house, such as two-story foyers, are not considered habitable areas, so they would not be included as part of the gross living area calculations.

Appraisal Effect
The most obvious effect of differing measurements on an appraisal is that any adjustments for gross living area might differ among appraisers. That is why some appraisers do not even make an adjustment on a comparable unless it differs by at least 100 square feet. An appraiser who adjusts for very small differences in gross living area should be questioned as to his or her technique.

Differences in measuring also can affect comparable properties. Appraisers need to do their own reconciling when looking at comparable property data. For example, an appraiser might use comparable properties of the exact same model as the subject property, while the assessor might report slightly different measurements and calculations.

The appraiser should obtain the assessor’s actual data cards for the comparable properties and check for him- or herself where problems occur. The appraiser can report the assessor’s figures that are different but choose to make no adjustments if he or she is certain it is the exact same house. The appraiser should comment in the report that the houses are the same despite having differing amounts of gross living area and that is why no adjustments are required.

The attention paid to some of the subtleties of measuring techniques reported in this article might seem a bit over the top. But every appraiser measuring a house should be considering these factors when encountering a difficult measuring situation. A property sketch that appears simple on the surface might be the result of an appraiser making lots of small decisions on which way to proceed.
Summary

Clearly, there are many measuring difficulties for which the appraisal profession has no agreed-on solutions. When reviewing, it is important for you to interview your appraisers to see how they handled particular situations.

Make sure they use the highest quality measuring devices appropriate for the job. Ask whether they considered the wall thickness of the house for any of the measurements. Ask whether they obtained data cards from the assessor to double-check the assessor’s work for comparable properties. Find out if they used supplemental data such as builder’s marketing sketches to further verify some of their data. Look at the photos of the subject property when reviewing the sketches and talking to your appraisers—see if the dimensions on the sketch have obviously been rounded to a large interval such as six inches.

The answers to those questions will help you determine if your appraisers made obvious measuring mistakes or just used different techniques. If there are no obvious measuring or sketching mistakes, then both of the sketches should be reasonably close in their gross living area calculations. There are no standards as to how far apart two different sketches may be—however, I would recommend that you be concerned if two appraisals differ by more than five percent in gross living area.

Lamar - I can't find your source document.   Can you provide a link, please.

John

Oh go ANSI this!
Forget ANSI... I go by gross building area or net leasable.

I just got back from measuring a home for the second time. The borrower thinks its 2000 sq ft, and my measurements came out at 1740 the first time with a laser. The second time, I went out with a tape measure and got 1820 sq ft. Should I change the sq ft of the home and say I goofed or do I explain the difference in the devices?

Also, am I looking at a license revocation or suspension for this? This business isn't the greatest, but I don't want to go down and out like this.

AskTheAppraisers.com:
A very important part of the appraisal process, is measuring the house to ..... It is very similar to the ANSI standard in that it requires exterior ...
asktheappraisers.com/ - 62k - Cached - Similar pages

John

The address is above.
Lamar

AskTheAppraisers.com

Copy this link to work.

Devil, Depending on how you use the laser or the tape, either both are accurate or neither one is. You are within a 60 foot variance between the two, which could simply be based on how you rounded up or down on one or more walls.

If using the laser and you tagged a gutter, did you add 4" to the length to make up for the gutter?

If you used the tape, on a long wall did the tape dip or bow?

4 inches here, 6 inches there, depending on the overall length of the wall and total size of the home, can change your GLA quite a bit.

Also, rounding up or down on each wall can REALLY effect your total GLA. Dangerous practice :)

I personally use the laser AND Mobile Pocket Apex. It will tell you WHILE INSPECTING if you have screwed up somewhere, because the walls will not add up.

I would explain to the home owner, that just as your two measurements were within 100 feet of one another, your comps could also be off by 100 feet. At the end of the day, 60 to 100 feet will only have a fractional effect on your appraised value.

I would ask him, "How much more would you pay for a home where all the rooms are 2" bigger? Or how much would he pay for 60 feet"

Good luck

Exactly why you should consider room count and utility more so than SqFt! Now who looks silly???

Thanks for your input John. I crunched the numbers and decided if I used the larger measurement, the value of the home would go up by one or two grand. I think they want 10k more. The mistakes added up to a total of 4ft. I just dont want to lose my job or license over it and am terrified now.

Agent, I did consider that more, and I know I look silly. The HO was concerned with the sq ft difference and the LO says he is fine with what I have, but now that its going to come in at 80sq ft more than I measured the first time...eeek

One thing I didn't see in the above posts (I apologise if I overlooked this), you need to draw what you measure. By that I mean, if you measure in 10ths of feet, draw in 10ths of feet. If you measure in feet & inches draw in feet and inches. I use Apex, the key strokes are different for each type of measurement

My laser and apex are set up for 10ths of feet. So thats what I draw in

When I was taught years ago...we never made adjustments for less than 100 SF difference of GLA and I still do that today....As discussed previously, who knows if the comps are accurate...

Mike P.