Appraisers' Free Forum

I was forbidden on the old forum, but figure it will be Ok on this one .... but some time ago, Matt Johnson approached me with being a Disto dealer ... and several folks on the old forum bought directly from me because I would beat just about anyone's price ....

So ..... if anyone is wanting a Disto, give me a shout first ..... if I can save you money ... great ... if not ... then no harm done .... Just a thought ....

Your having been forbidden is just one more example of the kind of chicken shit that I'm glad we're rid of. Go for it. The main thing freeforums doesn't want is click-through ads, and special ad blocks. This kind of thing shouldn't give them a rash.

I want the $500 disto, but I have only $200. Can you help?

Doug, now that you've brought this up... toward the end of last year or maybe a little earlier I sent you
a PM saying I wanted to buy a disto.

I never heard back from you and now I have to wonder about that??????

I did buy one some place else but I wouldn't have and would have bought it from you.

Do you think that PM was deleted?

More than likely ....

Alisa wrote:Doug, now that you've brought this up... toward the end of last year or maybe a little earlier I sent you
a PM saying I wanted to buy a disto.

I never heard back from you and now I have to wonder about that??????

I did buy one some place else but I wouldn't have and would have bought it from you.

Do you think that PM was deleted?

The stories I could tell you about PM's over there. I think so-n-so's a "Skippy"...I think whosie-whats-it's a "Skippy"....pssssss...psssss...pssssss

At the risk of sounding ancient...what's a disto, how do they help cut down on time (I'm wicked fast w/a 100' tape measure), and how much are they

Mako,
A disto is a measuring device manufactured by Leica and sold by Appraiser's Depot (Matt Johnson); DB is a sales agent for them.

You may be wicked fast, but your legs are sore today unless you lied to us yesterday. Disto's cut down on having to pull the tape behind bushes and over obstacles when measuring exteriors. No longer to you have to weave your way through garage clutter to measure the interior of an attached garage. When you want to know the ceiling height of the great room, just set the back of the disto against the floor and measure it. Same with measuring interior rooms (like, you know, when rehabbing...) You can stand in one spot and measure length and width of rooms, and have the machine calculate the area for you. If you learn the Pythagoras function, you don't even have to set foot in a flower bed to measure a wall. Just stand a few feet back and measure it at the eave line. (You'll want a steady rest for that one, though. A monopod will do nicely, as will any good snake stick. Any el-cheapo tripod will work, too, but they're a PITA to haul around except for special cases.)

As a plus, when you're sitting in the office practicing with it, you can drive your cat nuts chasing the laser dot.

Here's another leg that's hard to measure with a tape, but it's easy with a Disto:

DB, do you have old ones taken in on trade, or how much is a basic one? About the only thing I need is to measure ceiling height in warehouses, and a few walls where I can't get to with my measuring wheel.

ML, the Stanley Fat Max will probably do for you. But Disto makes a shirt-pocket size model that you might like better.

Shirt pocket size... there you go, that sounds right for me.

One warning about a fat max, as I have that and a Disto: The fat max lazer is nearly invisible in bright light. The disto's lazer dot is much easier to see, but about three times the size of the fat max.

Jim Plante wrote:You may be wicked fast, but your legs are sore today unless you lied to us yesterday.

That's funny...I did legs yesterday & they're killing me today! The muscles are asking the brain why we're doing this again...they keep reminding the brain we're in a stable marriage & want to know the point The brain tells the the muscles we're gonna be 50 this year (mid-life crisis) & wants to see what kind of shape we can get into by July. Muscles all think the brain's an idiot.

Jim Plante wrote:If you learn the Pythagoras function...

Remind me...which Greek God is Pythagoras again

Jim Plante wrote:As a plus, when you're sitting in the office practicing with it, you can drive your cat nuts chasing the laser dot.

Are the batteries cheaper than those for the LaserMax?

I do like the idea of not having to climb through the spider webs, but then again...I always carried stakes in the car for such instances. Sounds like the Disto could save a lot of time though...especially for those who include interior wall measurements (which I quit doing).

I carry a fifty and hundred foot autowind, and have both the fatmax and a disto. Some area's, I hook the autowind and walk the length, writh the measurement down, and either shoot the next measurement or walk it off. I can measure a house fairly quickly. Since the tape has a belt clilp, I never have it in my hand. I just stroll and go.
The lazer device is great for areas that you can't walk in.
Holly bushes are popular here, unless you're an appraiser. At that point, point and shoot.
It's that easy. I think the best solution is a combination of both.

Remind me...which Greek God is Pythagoras again

God of Triangles. Basic math equation is C[sup]2[/sup]=A[sup]2[/sup]+B[sup]2[/sup] Let me know if you need details. It's really just basic algebra.

Are the batteries cheaper than those for the LaserMax?

My A5 runs on AA cells. The little shirt pocket model (D-something or other) may use AAA's.

especially for those who include interior wall measurements (which I quit doing).

Huh? How do you figure out how much carpet/vinyl/tile/paint you need on a rehab?

Pythagoras was an Ionian Greek mathematician and philosopher. His theorem came from arranging a right triangle when he noticed that if one leg of a right triangle were 3 units long, and the other leg was 4 units longs, then the hypotenuse was 5 units long, which led to A[sup]2[/sup]+B[sup]2[/sup]=C[sup]2[/sup]. In the original case, (3x3)+(4x4)=(5x5) or 9+16=25. This led to the trigonometric functions of sine, cosign, and tangent.

Pythagoras was not a God.