There is a floor plan with some dimensions on it in the appraisal, plus a list of area calculations that conveniently add up to what the City has stated for square footage, but most dimensions are off by 3-5 feet, so for the two story house we are talking about a difference of 688 sq ft- they are saying it is 2770 sq ft, we calculated 2084 sq ft. 

Just a window, a min of 70 SF plus the other dimension requirements, and a smoke detector.

This calculator asks you to provide the full wall dimension and then subtract anything you don't want to paint the same color as the walls: windows and doors.

How do you account for the dimensions - Because my design would call for cabinets of a certain size , is it more an exercise of trying to fit what we find in to the space we have ? 

As long as you have the exact dimensions you might even be able to get a quote over the phone.

I am looking into to buy a REO SFR built on a rectangular lot with side dimensions about 170 x 400 ft.

The reason it disappears in the blue area because the blue area is a 5th dimension and your cursor gets transported there :mrgreen:

pictures of "after" are very good. just one recommendation: try to keep them the same size because it's a little distracting when it resizes to multiple dimensions every single picture.but that's minor stuff. very good otherwise. very good website. like the clean look.

I can't really read the dimensions on your sketch, but I will say this - center the island to the space and create the open-galley style kitchen.

Another dimension to real estate investing is buying REIT's (Real Estate Investment Trusts) which trade like stocks on the exchanges.