GGGinSA
Freshman Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2022
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- Texas
Spoiler: I’m considering using an extraordinary assumption on the square footage of every sale comparable.
My assignment is a cookie cutter 3BR, 2bath 1682sf single story built in 2018, the “Whitney” plan. I found six sale comparables plus one active listing all having 3BR & 2 bath ranging in size from 1680 ft to 1688sf, all built in 2018 and 2019 by the same builder.
I inspected the subject property, measured, and took my comp photos. Returning to the office I sketch the subject and find it is not 1680sf, it actually measures 1826 ft.
I’m thinking: dammit, my once near perfect appraisal requiring almost zero adjustments is no longer bracketed by size, and will require another trip 30 miles out to get a new set of comparables.
But the more I research the comparables, and look at the comp listing photos, i’ll be damned if room by room, they aren’t identical to the photos and layout of the subject. I’m pretty sure it’s a case of every real estate agent relying on the square footage the CAD reports, with the CAD presuming 1682 sf every time they pick up another Whitney plan by blueprint without actually measuring. It’s like the whole neighborhood with this plan is always gonna be about 140 ft. off.
I’m certain my subject and all comparable are the same Whitney plan and square footage. I’ve tried to verify it with the builder, but since this neighborhood has been finished out for three years I’ve had no luck, the original sales office has scattered to new developments and don’t have access to old records. BTW the Whitney plan does have available buyer upgrades, but none of the upgrades affect the square footage of the home.
i’ve considered going back out and taking new comp photos, however, there were only 13 sales to begin with: two are extreme high outliers, the rest have large size difference or are a different builder with slightly higher quality. And I can’t expand my search radius because the surrounding communities vary too much
What are the risks of valuing using a carefully worded extraordinary assumption stating that the six comparables used in the report, appear to be the same plan as the subject, though reported to be smaller, should not have a size adjustment, and should be assumed to be approximately the same size as the subject, and to make a size adjustment would lead to a misleading result yada yada yada?
Thanks in advance.
My assignment is a cookie cutter 3BR, 2bath 1682sf single story built in 2018, the “Whitney” plan. I found six sale comparables plus one active listing all having 3BR & 2 bath ranging in size from 1680 ft to 1688sf, all built in 2018 and 2019 by the same builder.
I inspected the subject property, measured, and took my comp photos. Returning to the office I sketch the subject and find it is not 1680sf, it actually measures 1826 ft.
I’m thinking: dammit, my once near perfect appraisal requiring almost zero adjustments is no longer bracketed by size, and will require another trip 30 miles out to get a new set of comparables.
But the more I research the comparables, and look at the comp listing photos, i’ll be damned if room by room, they aren’t identical to the photos and layout of the subject. I’m pretty sure it’s a case of every real estate agent relying on the square footage the CAD reports, with the CAD presuming 1682 sf every time they pick up another Whitney plan by blueprint without actually measuring. It’s like the whole neighborhood with this plan is always gonna be about 140 ft. off.
I’m certain my subject and all comparable are the same Whitney plan and square footage. I’ve tried to verify it with the builder, but since this neighborhood has been finished out for three years I’ve had no luck, the original sales office has scattered to new developments and don’t have access to old records. BTW the Whitney plan does have available buyer upgrades, but none of the upgrades affect the square footage of the home.
i’ve considered going back out and taking new comp photos, however, there were only 13 sales to begin with: two are extreme high outliers, the rest have large size difference or are a different builder with slightly higher quality. And I can’t expand my search radius because the surrounding communities vary too much
What are the risks of valuing using a carefully worded extraordinary assumption stating that the six comparables used in the report, appear to be the same plan as the subject, though reported to be smaller, should not have a size adjustment, and should be assumed to be approximately the same size as the subject, and to make a size adjustment would lead to a misleading result yada yada yada?
Thanks in advance.