Calculating Square footage with ANSI
American National Standard Institute provides a manual on the way to measure the inside sq.footage of a home. The American National Standard For Single-Family Residential Buildings For Single-Family Residential Buildings Download a copy for your office today. Sometime you may come across differences between an appraiser's measurement and what is on public record. Assessor's for public records may often just multiply the square footage of your first floor to get the second floor. Common discrepancies may occur in Cape-Cod style homes (or homes where the second floor doesn't have the same footprint as the first. Lets say for example you have 800 sq.ft. on the first floor. During the assessment, an assessor may have simply multiplied 800 by 1.5 (1.5 representing 1.5 floors) to get 1,200 sq.ft. of living area. Appraisers (different than the assessor) will measure according to ANSI (see below) As you can see, an appraiser will not count any space below 5 feet in that area (assuming it meets the above criteria). This is a great manual to have on hand. See how appraisers measure a home today.
AVM’s, Zillow and Zestimates and More
Zillow has made their "Zestimate"  synonymous with home value. Often home owners use this figure as a guide to whether their home has increased or decreased in value or simply as a tool for prospective buyers. Zillow's Zestimate is what appraisers call an AVM Automated valuation model. These are essentially models that can provide real estate property valuations using mathematical modelling combined with a database. Several AVMs calculate a property's value at a specific point in time by analyzing values of comparable properties. Accuracy can vary. Read more about Zillow's approach. So why have an appraisal if an AVM can do it all? Depending on where you are living, you may laugh at the value given by an AVM or completely agree with the value given. It widely ranges due to the limited data certain regions are able to feed those models. That argument is tenuous as an appraiser's value can also vary depending on the appraiser completing the assignment. So why do we need appraisers? There is a great deal of statistical significance in AVM's so they are not to simply just be discarded. Appraisers may even approach value by similar means. Whether it be by regression analysis, match-paired, comp selection, the process can be very similar. Appraisers however speak more towards the qualitative value of a home. Condition and quality tend to be an oversight to AVM's. As appraisers visit the home and comparables, he or she can attest to the quality and condition and affirm whether certain adjustments are merited. Many times, AVM data is valuating on incorrect data or outdated information. That is why banks, lenders and others require an appraiser for the job. No one is accountable for the figure given in an AVM and that is a comforting reason to hire an appraiser. Appraisers are highly qualified professionals that go beyond an AVM. In today's… Continue Reading
