About Us

The Institute of Housing Technologies was originally founded with the objective of helping to establish one nationally approved residential measurement standard, or one language of real estate. Through collaborative action and in cooperation with real estate organizations and  professionals throughout the industry, the Institute has grown into a research and study association; gathering statistics on the accuracy of public records, assessors and the mass appraisal process, MLS systems and real property details, automated valuation models, investigating agents and using size in advertising, new construction and the role of size in the valuation process, the study of newly licensed agents (and appraisers) and their level of skill in creating and reporting square footage, and researching the roles of agents, appraisers, and mortgage lenders in the overall home buying process. Our goals have dramatically expanded as we continue to explore the role of square footage in the real estate valuation and comparison processes.

We are currently developing continuing education programs, books, articles, videos, and working to create the new CMS (Certified Measurement Specialist) certification and designation programs. These programs will offer students an opportunity never before available. Created specifically for those real estate professionals who understand the need for precise square footage measurements and the professionals who choose to follow a formal, written, defensible standard of practice, which allows them to hold a document and say “this is how I calculated the square footage” which another professional could follow and recreate a similar total. Such a standard helps to protect real estate professional and their clients as well as the general public. The most advanced courses ever offered on this often controversial subject, the CMS Certification will be an online program requiring intense training in the art of measuring a single-family home. The CMS Designation will provide a combination of online learning and live classroom instruction; covering the what, when, where and why, along with the “how to’” of measuring residential square footage. Information for today’s real estate professional that will separate them from the rest. The “learn more, earn more” philosophy is alive and well in these advanced study programs. We are working to improve communications between all users and consumers of residential square footage data; constantly searching new ideas for articles and courses, and our new updated article section should be available in the near future. The expanded article section will include Information for home buyers and sellers, and for real estate professionals. In today’s ever changing marketplace the more you learn the better your chances of a successful transaction.

Seeking better ways to promote professionalism, basic real estate skills, and to enhance the educational opportunities for one of the most fundamental components of a single-family home. Offering practitioners new methods to conduct their business ethically, successfully, and profitably. Striving to improve the information and educational opportunities for the next generation of real estate professionals.

All books published by the Institute of Housing Technologies have a 100% money back guarantee, no questions asked.

Hamp Thomas is currently the director of the Institute of Housing Technologies, LLC. Hamp is the president and founder of The Measure Man Real Estate Services and Carolina Appraisers & Real Estate. He is the author of the American Measurement Standard, the Size Matters - Residential Square Footage books and continuing education course series, the real estate continuing education course What Every Agent Should Know about Appraisers and the Appraisal Process, and numerous other CE courses, webinars, videos, and blogs. Hamp also authored the Professional's Dictionary of Real Estate Terms, Home Measurement Basics, Solving the Square Footage Puzzle, and his latest book Death of an Industry-Real Estate Appraisal. Hamp has written local, regional and national articles and been featured in Realtor Magazine and the Appraisal Journal. Learning Library and Realtor®University offer the "Size Matters" webinar and his videos are posted on Realtor® TV. He is currently working to establish the new CMS (Certified Measurement Specialist) Designation/Certification through the Institute of Housing Technologies. The CMS© designation will provide agents, appraisers, assessors, home measurement specialists, and many others with a broad understanding of how to measure, calculate, and communicate residential square footage. Students will discover the importance of "size" to property comparison and valuation, and why it pays to use "size when you advertise" for professional Realtors. A Certified Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Specialist; (CRS), Certified Distance Education Instructor; (CDEI), State Approved Continuing Education Instructor, Accredited Buyer's Representative; (ABR), Graduate of the Realtor Institute; (GRI), and a Realtor®, Hamp takes a unique approach to this topic and bases his education programs on the needs of the professional real estate practitioner. Common sense, down to earth information, provided in a manner you can learn today and use tomorrow.