Has anybody done one of these? I've done plenty of Scope A but apparently D includes an interior inspection. They're pretty high paying so they must take 3 or 4 days to do, considering Trendsource's normally cheap pay.

I have done the Scope A Inspections as well as onsite, interior inspections. Can you tell me what is a Scope D Inspection?

I did a few back before they required a background check, EIN and the rest of it. They aren't too bad, though I would use 'street view' of google maps to make sure I wasn't doing a multi-story building for a single story price.

I found that if the business was owner occupied there was nothing but helpfulness in getting measurements. If the building was a leased space I got friction from the tenants. I always managed to get it done and never had any follow up questions.

I did find it very useful to examine any building on street view of google maps before going and that let me sketch out the streets and general building shape before I arrived. I also found that my property appraiser's website had 'footprints' of the buildings with measurements, which helped enormously as a point of comparison (they aren't accurate but good ballpark and if my numbers weren't close, it was time to measure again to see if they erred or I did).

Jeez, it requires sketches and measurements?? This is a 2-story building and they're offering $50... I normally do the Scope A's for $30. I don't take them without PAD.

Unless they have changed them, the Ds were the measurements I'm pretty sure. Perhaps someone who has more recently done these can tell you if that has changed.

I have done a Scope D and didn't find it too bad. I have some experience and did my homework ahead of time, though. I checked online and found out that the building was essentially a rectangle, so measuring it was really straightforward. There is an interior inspection, but it is mostly photos and I think I just had to estimate the footprint. The unit I did was an office condo that was just a smaller rectangle within the larger one. Also, as a former engineer, I am computer savvy, have a 200' tape, and am able to whip up a nice sketch using CAD fairly easily. Checking the county assessor's website also provided the assessor's building sketch to give me a double check for my measurements. For me, these are worth the $50, as long as the site is simple, because I can quickly produce a quality sketch. I imagine many people would be stymied with measuring and producing the sketch in the amount of time that might make it worth the $50 to them.

Edited to add that these are still due within 8 hours, so make sure you have time for your input (and sketch, etc.) after doing the actual visit.

I have never seen a Scope A for $30. Around here, they are almost always gone if I don't check within an hour of the email going out. For some reason, in my area, there is somebody who always snatches up the inspections at the starting rate, so I barely get a crack at them. I have beaten them to the punch on a few, so I think my rating might be going up. I have managed to schedule two different inspections in the last two days.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/19/2015 07:15PM by InPlainSight.

Yes, my sketch was done on graph paper with blue lines so when I photocopied it the lines disappeared and it looked reasonably 'professional'. I got a $10 measuring wheel from Harbor Freight that helped with a lot of the measurements and used my 50' tape measure inside. I was supposed to measure every interior space, including restrooms, storage rooms, offices, closets, etc.

I have done a few of these of various kinds and I can never remember which ones require sketches and which ones require measurements and sketches. The description does not usually tell you how involved it will be before you sign up. My favorite are the ones where you're not allowed on the property and must take photos from the road or sidewalk.

This one is the sketch and measure. I emailed TS for a little more info.

@Flash wrote:

I was supposed to measure every interior space, including restrooms, storage rooms, offices, closets, etc.

Wow, what a pain! definitely not worth the $50 unless it is a really simple floorplan. Perhaps they have changed, because the Scope D I did in April did not require interior measurements, other than an estimate of square footage and estimated overall dimensions of the entire unit. I did a Scope B in March that required an exterior sketch, but no measurements and paid about half as much. I am pretty sure they have a Scope F and I know there is a Scope G; maybe those require all of the interior measurements. My gut tells me that Scope A is the simplest and they want more information the further down the alphabet you go. I wish they had a summary of all of their property inspection programs, so you could get a better feel for what is involved when they come up.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2015 02:36AM by InPlainSight.

And as I say, I haven't done them in years and there weren't nearly so many levels back then. I think there was curb shots (paying almost nothing), exterior measure only, exterior/interior photo and exterior/interior measure.

I think the Scope D is exterior photos, building-only exterior measurements, sketch of site plan with building-only exterior measurements indicated, and interior photos of every room.
The work will vary by the number of floors/rooms and the number of buildings. Street-view and aerial views will help you get a feel for what you're going into. I've spent 1-2.5 hours onsite for these.
If I recall correctly, Scope F (as in F-orget this!) includes Scope D plus all the interior measurements and interior floor plan drawings with all measurements indicated as well. It includes every friggin' space on every friggin' floor of every friggin' building. You are at the mercy of the the workers of each business that is occupying the building(s) as to how accessible each room is (who has the key to that room, there's a meeting in another other room, the business at the end of the hall doesn't open for another hour, etc.) I've spent 1.5-7 hours onsite for these.