Hi, I am a newer user. I have studied my report for a clients home that was over 8000 sq feet. I do not want to under charge them. Is the billable area what Iguide bills us? I have read the info but get conflicting answers in different articles. Do I add the finished areas and unfinished areas for their final total? Suggestions and help please. I believe I might be over thinking this and under billed on previous ones.
The billable square feet you can find on the details page is how iGuide bills you. That is how I bill my clients based off what I pay. Sometimes that might be a smaller number than expected, but often it is more than expected. The clients will need to understand that just because it’s not the official square footage of the house, if you include attic space, basement, sunroom, etc.… It’s work that has to be done to get it all drafted.
This total seems less. That is my concern. It is not including the white areas. That was where my confusion is.
Last question on this topic by me. Do they measure closets? can that be done?
You have a few options here.
If it’s a really full closet and there is simply no way to see the corners of the closet, you can just leave the doors closed and ignore that closet.
I do that a lot!
Naturally, if it’s possible to move some of the clothes, so that you can see the corners, then, a good option here can be to not shoot in HRD and only show the closet in the floor plan and not show the image in the virtual tour.
It’s very important to check the coverage when you scan. Make sure that LiDar is seeing the corners of the closet, so that the drafters can properly outline the closet. (again, using the check coverage function, this will tell you what Lidar is able to see)
Another important tip is, remember that it’s the Lidar that is most important. Even if the camera lens can’t see the corners, as long as Lidar is seeing the corners, then the drafting team can complete the floor plan.
A useful tip here is, can you move the camera up (or down) on the tripod, so that it can get above (below) anything that might be blocking the view to the corner of the wall?
(one last tip!! Push the camera as far into the closet as possible, so that the camera sees all four corners. It’s not just the two back corners that you need to see)
I hope that helps!!
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Great tips, but I never ignore closets. If clothes need to be removed, then do it. Its part of the “official” square footage of the house and should be included (plus means more $$ for you). Yes, the drafters can usually figure out a closet if it is surrounded by interior walls, but why put them through the effort? “Be nice to your drafters and they’ll be nice to you” is my motto.
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Great point Mark, but if you could see some of the closets I’ve seen! One lady seriously needed therapy for the number of shoes she had collected.
For me, often it’s a choice of 'if I move all these clothes and shoes and try to move them back again, will I miss my 2 PM appointment? I just have to be ruthless.
I’ve given the realtor a list of ‘to-do’ items and if the closets were not addressed, sometimes I have to make a decision to skip.
This could be regionally specific. Here (in GA) they are ultimately going to go off the (incorrect) tax records. The room dimensions will be useful for new owners planning, but the overall square foot value will be dictated by the tax records (that’s the number that dictates the tax bill, so that’s the number that intimately counts)
Today, I kept closet doors closed and I’ve photos to explain why. (the old expression ‘10 pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag’ comes to mind)
The drafters do an awesome job! Part of me wishes they would slow down. They are always finished before my Indian editors are finished with the still images.
I hear ya. I usually try to remove enough coats, etc. to give me a sliver of the back wall and hopefully side walls too.
If I have a full closet I will often lift the tripod so the camera is near the ceiling with open wall sight lines and take another shot. Sure it’s a bit blurry and I’m in it but the drafters can then “see” the walls and do a perfect drawing. It takes 15 seconds. Works with laundry rooms as well. Sometimes tight closets cal also be done. When in doubt take another shot. During editing I obviously hide these shots.
Having good floor plans with closets finds me and the sellers sq footage. “Finding” 2-300 sq foot is a big deal over tax records and makes sure my seller are not leaving money on the table. Especially with values being $400-$1000+ a square foot!
M
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Agreed Mark. Do you run into issues where realtors are not willing to question tax records? That’s been my biggest hurdle. To some of them ‘tax records are gospel’ however, I did have one hard core ‘tax records are gospel’ who came back to me and told me that we did indeed save the client money on tax bills. I should use that as an example to trust us more. So many tax records (at least in the US) seem to be so flaky. Done with the same precision as the 90 degree wall angles we see all the time.