David Schiffmayer, owner of Evergreen Appraisal, recently shared his amazing experience using CubiCasa app for his appraisal assignments. He is a Certified residential real estate appraiser based in Colorado. During his career, David provided valuations and appraisal services to organizations such as Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, and Stewart Lender Services.
Here’s what David Schiffmayer shared with us:
“Dear CubiCasa Team,
I’d like to share my thoughts on a recent experience I had with your product.
After traveling down a treacherous mountain road in a heavy snowstorm (the kind where you don’t know where the road ends and the cliff begins) I arrived at the subject property.
I had done my homework and knew the home would be difficult to measure all angles and curves, but when I arrived it was FAR MORE EXTREME than I had imagined. The home was shaped like an S. Had I asked for plans in advance– yes. Did anyone have them – no. Should I flee immediately? Absolutely.
Sinking feeling upon arrival:
I managed to gather my courage, got out of the car with all my gear (iPad, iPhone, angle measure, laser measure, tape measure, reading glasses, snow gear…), and set off like a nerdy Arctic explorer to measure. The four-foot-deep snowdrifts and sideways blowing snow weren’t helping. About half of the home couldn’t be measured with a laser measure and the other half couldn’t be measured with a tape. The large drop-offs and enclosed patios and balconies added to the fun. I think I finally gave up when I found myself scaling the side of a massive boulder retaining wall and lost my laser measure in the snow (was able to find it).
I had promised Eric (CubiCasa Director of Customer Success & Support) I would give CubiCasa a try but honestly there was no way it was going to work. The house was too extreme and the interior was just as angled and curved like the exterior. But I was desperate. After fumbling around with the app a bit I found myself wishing I had practiced this at least once. I found a short demo video on the app and watched it. Completely unprepared, I started my first scan. It took about 30 minutes to take a video of the house. The app kept me on track with helpful feedback like “stop moving so fast!”, “don’t move sideways!”, and “tilt-up, tilt down!”. I was nervous I was going to forget an area and almost lost my scan a few times when my phone interrupted with “Severe Weather Warning Alerts!” coupled with jarring “Air Raid Siren!” noises (I’ve since learned to scan in airplane mode). Scan complete, I finished up my inspection photographing every room, and left feeling 49% dejected and 51% grateful to be getting out of there. On the way home I saw there was a video you can review to make sure you haven’t missed anything during the scan. Great. That ship has sailed I uploaded my scan and tried to think about how I was going to explain to the Realtor that I needed to go back out to the property (would Spring be OK?) and are they certain there are no plans (can you triple check)? Did I dare break out the infamous “my computer crashed” excuse so legendary in the industry?
This morning my scan came in 12 hours ahead of schedule (too early). Certainly, the only explanation it was so early was to inform me that “scan failed” I wavered for a few moments but finally decided to rip off the band-aid and open the link.
And there it was… Beautiful. Pristine. Impossible. Like magic, I had a sketch with GLA and more… a floor plan, kitchen islands, and bathtubs. Seriously, how was this even possible? Sure I needed to re-label some rooms (user error) and even needed to change one area from finished to unfinished, but that was so simple to do in the app. The excellent support staff Hana and Henrique were helpful in guiding me on how to make those changes (please see FAQs).
So today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I’ve found a new favorite tool. Thank you CubiCasa!”
David Schiffmayer
Evergreen Appraisal
303/888-0725
david@evergreen-appraisal.com
CubiCasa digital GLA solution for appraisals
Did you know that some of the industry’s leading companies have already integrated CubiCasa Digital GLA technology so they are empowered to fulfill Desktop and Hybrid Appraisals with ease? Clear Capital is one of the companies successfully completing desktop & hybrid assignments thanks to our next-gen scanning solution: “If a floor plan isn’t included in the MLS, Clear Capital has a network of licensed real estate agents and brokers who can inspect the property using CubiCasa’s mobile scanning technology, which will create a floor plan that includes interior and exterior measurements of the property in about five minutes. The CubiCasa technology will also provide measurements per ANSI standards,” reports Kenon Chen, Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Clear Capital. Read the full article HERE.
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