After I take a look at the condition of the outside of the house, the next thing I do is measure around the house. That gives me a “footprint” to place all the rooms into, but also tells me how much living space the house has.

I don’t count the garage. A garage is not considered living space.

What I come up with, and what the public record might show, could be different. I am not a surveyor. I’m going to come up with a figure so I can match that with my comparables.

For example, there may be two houses with a common wall between them. Occasionally, I may find that wall is five feet to the left for one house, and five feet to the right for the other house, leaving some odd spaces. When I do the measurements, there can be some kind of off-setting that I cannot see. So, I’ll do my research to find out why my numbers don’t match the county records.

Interior stairs? Oftentimes, the county won’t count the stair space, and the space above the stairs, and sometimes they do. Generally, we will come in very close to what’s in the public record, but if not, I’ll try to figure out why.

I don’t turn in my results to the county assessor’s office, so you don’t have to be concerned about getting a higher tax bill because of my findings. I am not a licensed surveyor. And I’m hired by you, not the county.