CuriousJames
Freshman Member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2012
- Professional Status
- General Public
- State
- Massachusetts
Greetings,
I've got two upper floor GLA question for my Cape style house. A proper description of the home could be garrisoned raised cape or split entry cape with garrison (2 foot overhang on front side) . The roof pitch is roughly 10/12 or 40 degrees (my measurement of angle made inside house was with a digital tilt box gadget aka inclinometer).
Anyway, what is the accepted method of dealing with the upper floor GLA in the state of Massachusetts? Fannie Mae or ANSI? Or something else?
The dimensions of the first floor are 44' wide x 26' deep which if you use the standard 1.5 story cape, leads to the value of 1716 sqft. This was the value given when I purchased the property in 2005 and what the Town hall had on the property card until 2010. The 2 foot garrison overhang results in the 6 foot wide front entrance subtracting 12 sqft from the total GLA resulting in 1704sqft.
However, there is the matter of the cathederal ceiling open space over the living room. The living room is 14.5' x 14', the open space above the living room is 14.5' x 10'. If I were to take the .5 factor into consideration and assume a 13' depth (down from 26') I would then subtract 14.5' x 3', (since the current area above is 10' deep) to get a negative area of 42.5 sqft. This would lead to an area of 1673.5 sqft GLA. (Minus 12 more for the front entrance makes 1661.5 sqft)
OR would Fannie Mae guidelines treat the open area as a potential for inconsistent GLA calculation between appraisers, forget the open area and stick with the 1716 sqft (or 1704 sqft)
The updated 2010 property card at Town Hall has a 1687 sqft value. I don't understand exactly how they got that.
The stairs leading down from the upper level to the first floor have 5 steps, then a 6'x6' landing, then 6 more steps. I believe under Fannie Mae guidelines the stairs count as GLA but not more than the area which would be taken away from the upper floor by the hole in the floor. So are the stairs subject to the .5 factor even thought their actual area may be larger than the corresponding GLA from the upper floor. Is the correct way to treat the stairs as if....the stairs weren't there and calculate them as part of the upper floor?
BTW the appraisal I received did include the stairs from the first floor to the basement but failed to include the stairs from the upper level to the first floor, which I feel is inconsistent. This resulted in an area of 1614 sqft on the appraisal.
I realize being 70~100 feet off from the town hall isn't a big deal if you're comparing 2800 sqft colonials, but this is the 1600~1700 sqft area, and it's a big deal when trying to have comps that are actually comparable.
The second question I have is in the length measure of the upstairs area. The bedroom is 22 feet long, and the upper loft overlooking the living room is 21 feet long. Both of those are interior measurements. There is a missing 1 foot from the exterior. The appraiser measured the bedroom at 21' long and subtracted from the exterior 44' to get 23' which was assigned to the "small side" loft section instead of the larger width bedroom. He did not measure the loft area length. I realize the difference is minimal, but for S+Grins, what is the correct way?
I've got two upper floor GLA question for my Cape style house. A proper description of the home could be garrisoned raised cape or split entry cape with garrison (2 foot overhang on front side) . The roof pitch is roughly 10/12 or 40 degrees (my measurement of angle made inside house was with a digital tilt box gadget aka inclinometer).
Anyway, what is the accepted method of dealing with the upper floor GLA in the state of Massachusetts? Fannie Mae or ANSI? Or something else?
The dimensions of the first floor are 44' wide x 26' deep which if you use the standard 1.5 story cape, leads to the value of 1716 sqft. This was the value given when I purchased the property in 2005 and what the Town hall had on the property card until 2010. The 2 foot garrison overhang results in the 6 foot wide front entrance subtracting 12 sqft from the total GLA resulting in 1704sqft.
However, there is the matter of the cathederal ceiling open space over the living room. The living room is 14.5' x 14', the open space above the living room is 14.5' x 10'. If I were to take the .5 factor into consideration and assume a 13' depth (down from 26') I would then subtract 14.5' x 3', (since the current area above is 10' deep) to get a negative area of 42.5 sqft. This would lead to an area of 1673.5 sqft GLA. (Minus 12 more for the front entrance makes 1661.5 sqft)
OR would Fannie Mae guidelines treat the open area as a potential for inconsistent GLA calculation between appraisers, forget the open area and stick with the 1716 sqft (or 1704 sqft)
The updated 2010 property card at Town Hall has a 1687 sqft value. I don't understand exactly how they got that.
The stairs leading down from the upper level to the first floor have 5 steps, then a 6'x6' landing, then 6 more steps. I believe under Fannie Mae guidelines the stairs count as GLA but not more than the area which would be taken away from the upper floor by the hole in the floor. So are the stairs subject to the .5 factor even thought their actual area may be larger than the corresponding GLA from the upper floor. Is the correct way to treat the stairs as if....the stairs weren't there and calculate them as part of the upper floor?
BTW the appraisal I received did include the stairs from the first floor to the basement but failed to include the stairs from the upper level to the first floor, which I feel is inconsistent. This resulted in an area of 1614 sqft on the appraisal.
I realize being 70~100 feet off from the town hall isn't a big deal if you're comparing 2800 sqft colonials, but this is the 1600~1700 sqft area, and it's a big deal when trying to have comps that are actually comparable.
The second question I have is in the length measure of the upstairs area. The bedroom is 22 feet long, and the upper loft overlooking the living room is 21 feet long. Both of those are interior measurements. There is a missing 1 foot from the exterior. The appraiser measured the bedroom at 21' long and subtracted from the exterior 44' to get 23' which was assigned to the "small side" loft section instead of the larger width bedroom. He did not measure the loft area length. I realize the difference is minimal, but for S+Grins, what is the correct way?
