Attic finished/Open loft stairs

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Debra,
Does this area have a full 8 feet of head room, can it be accessed directly from the main living space, is it heated from the main heating system, is the construction of like kind and quality as the main living area, was it built with permits, are the stairs built to code?????. Answer these questions and you will soon convince your self that it probably should NOT be included in your GLA calculation. This is not to say that it does not have value. Indeed you can give it some lesser value, per square foot, and may need to ding it for functional obsolesence (attributable to the lack of head room and/or access difficulty) in the cost approach. In the sales approach you should adjust according to what the market values this amenity. It may be an over-improvement (superadequacy) and worth nothing to the market. It may be illegal and, if the municipality enforces tear out or bringing it up to code, represent a major cost to the market. So you need to answer some questions first and then make a determination on how to handle it.

 

[Steve Owen]

I tend to agree with most of the advice you have gotten. However, one person mentioned cost to cure. From your description, this sounds like incurrable functional obsolescence. I would note it as such unless there is a practical way to remodel with a functional set of risers - then you would be looking at a cost to cure situation.

 

[brunge]

Make it easy on your self. No need to worry about functional ob. The only possible functional issue might be if the staircase interferes with the 1st floor traffic flow.

It doesn’t sound like the second floor area should be treated as part of the main living area due to much lower level of utility. Treat it as a finished attic. The contributory would almost always be considerably lower (per square foot) than the main living area. That is: use a lower factor per square foot than you would use for your grid adjustments for living area.