Am I overthinking this?

[Atlanta CG]

Property was acquired years ago. Refinanced in 2015. Had 9.6 acres but in 2016 it added another acre as an addition to the land, now containing 10.6 acres. Owner is selling a 2 acre part of the total parcel to a buyer who wants to build a home and the lender needs a release of the mortgage. They need a before and after value. As of the past 8 years the total site is 10.6 acres and I appraised it as such. Now they came back and said since the mortgage only included 9.6 acres and they need it as the before value. But the site now contains 10.6 acres. I understand I cannot value only a portion of the site without an exception and they will not allow that. Am I being too hard axxed?

 

[Atlanta CG]

Well, never mind. I think I have figured it out. The additional land added 8 years ago is on a separate deed so I can use the original site in the appraisal.

 

[TerryRohrer]

Property was acquired years ago. Refinanced in 2015. Had 9.6 acres but in 2016 it added another acre as an addition to the land, now containing 10.6 acres. Owner is selling a 2 acre part of the total parcel to a buyer who wants to build a home and the lender needs a release of the mortgage. They need a before and after value. As of the past 8 years the total site is 10.6 acres and I appraised it as such. Now they came back and said since the mortgage only included 9.6 acres and they need it as the before value. But the site now contains 10.6 acres. I understand I cannot value only a portion of the site without an exception and they will not allow that. Am I being too hard axxed?

Were the two tracts combined into a new survey and the old surveys vacated, or are there still two individual tracts? If the latter, there is no reason to include the 1 acre tract when their mortgage is the 9.6 acre tract.

 

[Mark K]

Well, never mind. I think I have figured it out. The additional land added 8 years ago is on a separate deed so I can use the original site in the appraisal.

If you're doing a 'before' and 'after' you'll still need to use a Hypothetical Condition for the 8.6 acre site "after value", assuming it hasn't been split yet. My guess is the client is aware of this but you might check.

 

[Atlanta CG]

The tax assessors have combined it into one parcel and have created a plat for their records. I do not believe it was legally combined for any purpose as there is no other mortgage on the property subsequent to the original.

 

[Tom4value]

Property was acquired years ago. Refinanced in 2015. Had 9.6 acres but in 2016 it added another acre as an addition to the land, now containing 10.6 acres. Owner is selling a 2 acre part of the total parcel to a buyer who wants to build a home and the lender needs a release of the mortgage. They need a before and after value. As of the past 8 years the total site is 10.6 acres and I appraised it as such. Now they came back and said since the mortgage only included 9.6 acres and they need it as the before value. But the site now contains 10.6 acres. I understand I cannot value only a portion of the site without an exception and they will not allow that. Am I being too hard axxed?

I see that the “problem” went away.

My comment is about, “before and after”. Lender put the mortgage with 9.6 acres. That is the “before”. The additional tract occurred AFTER securing the mortgage so that is none of their concern. Seems petty but that is the nature of “partial release”

 

[Ricky LaFleur]

I've never understood why an HC would be used when appraising a part of a larger property. You can appraise all or part of the property. Appraising only 4ac of an existing 10ac tract, 8ac out of an existing 10ac tract, or appraising only the land when improvements are present; it's not hypothetical, it's just a part of the entire property.

 

[George Hatch]

An appraiser can appraise the part but can the lender encumber just the part? Can they take it back and resell it in the market without a lot split?

 

[Ricky LaFleur]

An appraiser can appraise the part but can the lender encumber just the part?

Maybe you were asking rhetorically. I'm only speaking as far as what I've seen lenders do, and I'm not a lender, but yes, I have seen requests for parts of a larger tract more than once. Sometimes it's for something like a 40ac part of a 120ac parcel. They may use a basic "NW4 SW4" to describe it. In some cases I couldn't promise they didn't write that fancy legal up on their own either (surveyor, who?).

Can they take it back and resell it in the market without a lot split?

I presume in the case of default the deed of trust should have a legal description that will describe the property foreclosed and change of title can take place. The county just splits a parcel if part of it is sold or changed hands (here, anyway).

 

[sputnam]

As the appraiser, what the Client requests is what you do... unless they ask you to violate USPAP or other laws or regulations... or, you decline the assignment.