Appraisers in my area are adding 50% for open area (cathedral or vaulted ceiling, open foyer, etc.) in their sq. ft. calculations. For instance a 20X20 room with a cathedral ceiling would be calculated as: 20X20=400+50%=600 total sq.ft. . Has anyone else experienced this in their region?
Ditch
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Ask them how your supposed to walk on the 50% they are adding and tell them if they can give you an answer then you will pay the extra tax. If not then they can climb up to the other 50% of the room and retreive the tax money from the vault located in that space.
I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. I'm referring to real estate appraisers working for the bank, determining loan values.
The tax man is not permitted in the house for tax appraisal purposes, their appraisal has to be done from the curb.
Ditch
You are lucky then. The last time the appraiser came by in my neck of the woods if the people were home he asked to go in and look. All the proper ID's from the city and a phone call to the city to confirm and it's the law.
What information do you have to substantiate that ?
Tim Mooney
Tim,
It's how they appraised my house for my refinance.
Ditch
I also think you are lucky .
Tim Mooney
As far as the tax man is concerned: In my area, N West. Pa., the tax man, by law, is not permitted to request entrance to the home. They may measure the footprint of the home and take pictures from the curb only, and/or review the plans on new construction. The plans may be obtained from the bldg. inspector, the homeowner is not required to furnish the plans to the tax appraiser. Tax appraisers requesting entrance can be reported.
My real-estate appraiser said that with the current trend of "open construction", allowances have to be made in calculating fair value vs. sq. ft. loss.
Ditch
I think it makes sense in a way because cathedrals ceilings
1. do cost more to construct and
2. are more desirable in some areas
which should equate to higher appraised value. I think the Interesting thing is that they use a standard way to calculate it.
I'm guessing that around here they just take that into the account in the noise. I mean, around here (CO Mountains) you also get credit for views, but that is sort of left to the individual appraiser. I would love to see a formula, however, +5K for views subalpine mountains, +10K for unobstructed continental divide views without other houses or mine tailings..... So much in the appraisal field seems pretty subjective.
Glad to finally have the opportunity to contribute something to this forum. I am a real estate appraiser that does mostly mortgage loan/second mortgage appraisals for local and national lending agencies. I've been monitoring this site and the JLC site for some time now because a portion of my responsibility includes construction inspections for both new construction and remodeling loans. I live in rural NE Mississippi. Small town has adopted the 1994 edition of Southern Standard Building Code, but building inspector is an idiot. Outside of the City is wide open. I can't describe the stuff I've seen, no true professional would believe it. Seems to have gotten worse with folks watching HGTV.
As to the method of computing square footage, this has mostly been a regional issue. For example, in our area, in a single story home with a cathedral ceiling, no additional area is added for the extra ceiling height. But, in a two story home with a two-story open foyer, no deduction is made for the lack of second floor space.
According to the latest information, there is a new ANSI standard, now open for comment, that will establish a uniform standard for computing square footage nationwide. Sorry, but I couldn't find the latest reference # for this.
To Paula,
I can only imagine that in your area, views would have a tremendous impact on value. As far as the + or - adjustments, reputable appraisers should extract this value from the marketplace. Assuming you are in a relatively active market, it should be fairly easy to determine that for example a 2000 sq ft home with superior mountain views are selling for + whatever % over similar style,size, quality, homes with other views.
Technically speaking, there is very little subjective about the appraisal process. All adjustments should be extracted from the local market.
By the way, I posted a question about problems with foundation condensation and ventilation on this site earlier this month. Part of my problem was that current HUD and VA MPR's require adequate crawl space and attic ventilation. That's what I was conditioned to look for. Thanks to this forum, I am now better educated about the latest thinking and technology.
Thank you for responding , and welcome aboard. Please post more as that's what it takes to make this site interesting. We all live in different places and do the same things differently some times. Its interesting to hear others. I for one am tickled to have an appraiser.
Tim Mooney