Electronic Distance Measuring Tool when going for open houses ?

I would strongly advise AGAINST them. I bought one and the readings were just so off, that it was a waste of money. The lazer can bounce off of shiny surfaces and hit furniture. Lighter walls will give different measurements from darker walls. You need to be careful when aiming it to ensure that you are in a straight parallel line. On top of all of that, they cannot measure anything less then 7-7 1/2 feet.

After tying to use it for a few weeks, I bought a wheel on a stick measure. It's a little bulky, but it cost $12 on ebay. If you spend $30-40, you can get one that is very small. These things are very accurate and easy to use. This is what any good NYC appraiser uses.

they suck

save your money

to chime in here, there ARE laser measurers that are accurate, and excellent. My better half uses them professionally, and the measurements need to be right for what he does. That said, the laser measure we have wasn't $30, more like $300 if memory serves. And ours does not have problems with short distances, provided you can put it on a level surface and hold still it gets great, accurate readings.

If you can't be sure the one you have is accurate, bring a standard tape measure.

Or you can simply learn the "3 foot step" - you'd be surprised how accurate it can be. Or simply look at the floor in most apartments and count - almost every apartment has something on the floor which is a standard length or width and all you have to do is count and multiply. I remember going to an open house once and "calling" an agent on their floorplan. They made some smart ass comment about "oh, so you think you can do better just by your eye than the owner did with a measuring tape?". I pointed out the flooring was 12" x 12" squares, and all I had to do was count them.

PS NEVER believe any owner, broker, etc about ceiling height. If you think square footage is overstated, ceiling height claims are the most astoundingly overstated measurement. 12 foot ceilings are always 16 feet, etc. Easy way to check by eye? Look at a standard door, which is 6'8" tall and see how much higher the ceiling is off of that. if it's not double, it ain't no 14 foot ceiling........

I actually have a theory about why people perceive ceilings to be so much higher than they actually are when they don't have as hard a time judging room dimensions or square footage by eye that I've never heard espouse by anyone else but me, so I claim it's proprietary (so I'm pompous.. you already knew that).

Ditto door height. I go by 7', though, as that's more common in the prewars I see. I can just touch the top of a 7' doorway without stretching, and then it's easy to judge the height above. The always-touted 10' is almost always 9' or less.

30yrs -- There is nothing quite like having the broker showing you an apt truly not know the measurements. It is easy enough to figure out, with minimal effort.