by Matt Johnson
Before I started AppraiserDepot.com, I owned an appraisal shop in Oklahoma City. Like many of you, the one part of the business that I struggled with was advertising. Since I didn't have a marketing background, I had trouble coming up with creative ideas that made me stand out from my competition. After brainstorming for a few weeks, I decided on a plan - measuring houses for a fee. That probably sounds strange to most of you, but it is a great way to make additional money and get more appraisal business.
I designed a postcard and sent it to realtors in my area. I explained in the postcard that I would measure their listings for a fee. As we all know, county records are often incorrect. I knew that realtors wouldn't call me on every listing, but I thought they might call me on some of them. I was right. I started getting calls within a week of the mailing.
There are many reasons why realtors and homeowners need houses measured. Here are a few of the reasons that I encountered:
- County square footage is incorrect
- A new room has been added to the house
- Should the enclosed porch or patio be considered as Gross Living Area?
- They need a second opinion on another appraiser's sketch
- The realtor does not want to be held liable for the square footage listed in the MLS
My measuring fees really depended on several factors:
- What is the approximate size of the house?
- Will it be difficult to measure?
- How far is it from my office?
- Do I have any appraisals scheduled near the property (cuts down the travel time and fuel costs)?
- How soon do they need me to do it?
Back in 2000/2001, when I was offering this service, my average fee for a house was $75 to $80. Considering that it has been 4 years since I did this, I'm sure I could charge more today.
Since I was at the house with the realtor or homeowner, I had a captive audience. I would explain how an appraisal would help them set the listing price. If that didn't interest them, I'd tell them that they should refer me to the buyer's lender since I'd already measured the house. My offer included my regular appraisal fee less the price of the sketch. By offering these services, I converted about 80% of these sketching assignments into full appraisals. I also found that many of my clients were referring me to other realtors and homeowners. That meant even more business.
Over the last 2 years, we've been contacted by several companies who need people that can do different types of measuring. These companies have always struggled to find service providers for their networks. It has been difficult for us to help them because we didn't know which of our customers were interested in this type of work. We are hoping that our new website will be a valuable resource for these companies and help our customers expand their businesses.
Our new website, www.MeasuringProfessionals.com, will be a directory of people who can perform a variety of measuring tasks. Those tasks include perimeter sketching, floor plans, as-built floor plans, virtual tours, and land surveys. This website isn't just for appraisers---it is for anyone that has the experience and expertise needed to complete these types of jobs.
We will be advertising this website to companies and individuals who require these types of services. We will also be sending out broadcast emails to our members notifying them of companies who are actively seeking service providers. We are already working with www.floorplanonline.com and they are seeking appraisers from around the country for measuring assignments. We are working with several other companies right now and will be sending out the details soon.
Like many of you, I am not a big fan of directory websites. While there are a few good ones on the web, most have proved to be nothing more than scams. MeasuringProfessionals.com will be different. A "1 county listing" is FREE. If you want to be listed in more than one county, additional county listings can be purchased for $4.99 per year. I decided to charge for this because it will keep people from "blanketing" a state with their listing (most people won't travel 100 miles to measure a house). If they want to purchase a listing in every county, they can, but it will cost them. If there are a lot of people in your area that have signed up, you can improve your ranking on the page by paying a very small yearly fee.
As an added benefit, anyone who signs up (free or paid) gets a 10% discount at any of our stores. This discount code will not expire and can be used as many times as needed.
I hope that this email has been informative and has given you an idea for expanding your business. I encourage you to sign up at MeasuringProfessionals.com immediately. We've already started promoting the directory so you'll want to make sure you are listed today!
Best Regards,
Matt Johnson
AppraiserDepot.com
