Appraisers' Free Forum

DB · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:39 pm Post subject: Distos

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 .... Wink

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Tennessee State Certified Residential Appraiser
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..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day,
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**Jim Plante** · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:42 am Post subject:

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.
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Jim Plante

**Edd Gillespie** · Certified General Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 2282

I want the $500 disto, but I have only $200. Can you help?
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Edd “In the real estate economy, there are no guarantees that reason will prevail in a market where emotions run high and the amount of misinformation runs deep.” Jonathan Miller in The Matrix. So what’s an appraiser to do?

**Alisa** · Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

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?
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http://www.appraiseralisa.com

DB · Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:39 am Post subject:

More than likely .... Sad

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Tennessee State Certified Residential Appraiser
***************************************
..."If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day,
so I never have to live without you." - Winnie the Pooh.

Mako · Member Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 849

**Jim Plante** · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:04 pm Post subject:

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:

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Jim Plante

**M L** · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

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.
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**Jim Plante** · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

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

**M L** · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject:

Shirt pocket size... there you go, that sounds right for me.
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Ya can't keep trouble from visitin, but you don't have to offer it a chair.

**benluby** · Certified Residential Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 1576

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.
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Mako · Member Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 849

**benluby** · Certified Residential Joined: 12 Aug 2007 Posts: 1576

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.
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Whoever thinks herding cats is impossible, has never walked with an open can of Tuna.

**Jim Plante** · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject:

**Goodpasture** · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:59 pm Post subject:

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 A²+B²=C². 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.
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