Berm Home Or Not?

[JR1972]

In-house loan?

Bermed house with 600 SF upper level.
Include the 1800 s.f. as GLA.
If no berm comps (laughing) I'd adjust for design/appeal.

Your trainer that stated no GLA for bermed houses must have been a F/F form filler. In-house loans allow you to call it what it is, not what some guideline dictates; you actually get to use common sense.

The "trainer" in question is McKissock.

 

[JR1972]

In-house loan?

Bermed house with 600 SF upper level.
Include the 1800 s.f. as GLA.
If no berm comps (laughing) I'd adjust for design/appeal.

Your trainer that stated no GLA for bermed houses must have been a F/F form filler. In-house loans allow you to call it what it is, not what some guideline dictates; you actually get to use common sense.

The "trainer" in question is McKissock.

Must be a REAL nice berm home.....

Must be a REAL nice berm home.....

It is

Must be a REAL nice berm home.....

It is a nice home, why wouldn't it be?

 

[residentialguy]

The "trainer" in question is McKissock.

Ok...I guess that shows that no one is perfect.

 

[Mark K]

The "trainer" in question is McKissock.

I've taken McKissock classes so that explains it. Some of their classes are OK, some less than OK.

They are very generic and teach for the masses and they assume the masses will be appraising only Fannie/Freddie, secondary market appraising. They teach as though F/F guidelines are required for every appraisal.

A berm house is a square peg that will not fit into a F/F round hole, no matter how hard you beat on it.

 

[Tom4value]

I did one this past summer and called both stories GLA with a slab and selected comps based upon similar functional utility. For the "odd ball" aspect, I used a comp that was a log home. I also explained that the only buyer for this home was Bugs Bunny!

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Wouldn't your typical buyer be a hobbit?

 

[JTip]

It is a nice home, why wouldn't it be?

C3/Q3 sounds strong for a home built in a dirt hole in Wisconsin.

 

[Vermonter]

Back in the day when 'everyone' was saying the world was running out of oil (Jimmy Carter days) some people built some VERY nice earth-bermed homes. There's 3 or 4 within about 10 miles of my office that I know of. I've gone thru 2 of them on realtor open houses; good quality, usually built into the side of a hill.

Whenever I'm presented with an offer to appraise one, I'm always too busy.

They generally sell for about the same, maybe a bit less, $/sf as conventional construction but take 2-3X longer to sell. Part of the problem selling is the buyers need an in-house lender.

About the same market appeal as a dome home; there a couple of those around here too.

Have an earthship right around the corner I've been waiting to get a request on. It's only a matter of time. Seen pics inside and it's basically a time warp back to the 70s. Was on the market for awhile at some ridiculous price, but never sold. They replaced the roof a few years ago which didn't look fun. 4+ foot of soil removed and replace by hand. Then they planted apple trees and perennials on it last year.

Have an oddball comp folder with all the weird ones, but the only earthship is 40 miles away and a quarter the size. I will definitely be unavailable for that one.

 

[residentialguy]

I also explained that the only buyer for this home was Bugs Bunny!