Cincinnati Appraiser botched my appraisal Square Footage is Significantly Understated

[elodealeaf]

Good point on the valuation. I don't know, but I do know the square footage is wrong.

And I pointed this out to the "master" .... the first thing that made me angry was that I traveled about 5 weeks straight from the last week or so in Jan until beg. of March and he not deliver the appraisal by the date he promised. This "master", instead of apologizing said it makes no difference as Ham County does not consider submission dates in scheduling BOR interview dates.

Well, I went to the Recorder's office in March and the beginning of March they had begun interviews for those who submitted in January, so his assertion was wrong in that respect. I'd be done now if I had the appraisal on time but what I really did not like was his refusal to look at the appraisal again based on this square footage discrepancy before I submitted it.

Again, I ask for advice. There is no doubt the BOR is going to ask why the sq footage differs from Ham County's records. Infact, they casually asked this when I had someone look over the paperwork to ensure I was submitting the complaint properly.

So, I ask for advice. -Jeff

 

[residentialguy]

We're getting there...

What is his appraised value of the house?

Do you have a 3 or 4 season porch?

What was the purpose of the appraisal...Refinance or tax value?

 

[elodealeaf]

Appraised value of the house is $230,000. There is no porch. There is an addition on top of the garage that is obviously an addition as it is drywall, not plaster. The house was originally built in '54. I guess you could say that's a 4 season porch.

 

[elodealeaf]

Purpose is tax value and actually since it appraised so high, no possible refinance, though I'm pretty happy where I'm at.

 

[elodealeaf]

I meant to say that the original purpose was tax valuation, but since it appraised so high a refinance may be an option as my principal balance on the loan is just under $200k.

 

[residentialguy]

Ok...you have a +/-230k house.


1. That area above the garage may not have been included in the sq finished area.
Although this is purely speculation, he could adjusted that room in another area, not counting it as GLA (as porches are done) or even missed it.

2. the value of the house being smaller would not inflate the value...that's only a 7 1/2% size variance, which would be minimal in terms of value. Maybe $5k higher with the extra 180 sq ft counted...assuming that it wasn't included in another area.


Tax value is not current market, btw....they go by the value the prior year to 1 1/2 years prior.

 

[elodealeaf]

Well, all of my appraisals do have sketches of the downstairs and upstairs. There are no discrepancies in any of the downstairs measurements on any of the 4 appraisals I have.

The most recent appraisal is the only one that differs and that difference relates 100% to the dimensions of the upstairs sketch. He says 800 square feet total, one large bedroom one small, the other 3 say two large, identical bedrooms upstairs. His sketch shows 180 square feet less upstairs than the others. That is where the difference is.

The measurement date for complaints to be filed by 3/31/12, and mine has been filed is 12/31/11 - 1/1/12 and he performed his appraisal early in January 2012. I could not use the one I had performed in January 2011.

 

[residentialguy]

You go by the difference of Gross Living area above Grade, not level to level.

This is good news for you, though. Now you can relax a bit know that he didn't "botch it". Worse case scenario on what you've mentioned is that the measurement is a bit off and might be slightly low if comparable homes 180' larger are selling for more...but it doesn't sound like you thought it was too low.

 

[Michigan CG]

You hired this appraiser to get your assessed value lower?

You have a cape COD?

Is all of the upstairs area over five feet in height?

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This thread has been moved to the Ask and Appraiser section of the forum. This is a moderated area of the forum, so some posts might be delayed.

Moderator.

 

[elodealeaf]

I hope you are correct.

I do hope you are correct. I've been to these interviews with the Ham. County BOR. They look for any reason to just throw an appraisal out. The burden of proof is on me and I'm going into this with an appraisal that calculates a market value based on a square footage number (livable above ground space) that differs from what the County has on file and I know to be incorrect. I suspect it's unlikely they'll make the same determination you did. It really is not in their best interest and since this housing bust, with the budget problems in this County, many have had problems with the BOR. Ham County has the State Courthouse in Columbus full.

We'll see.