Cincinnati Appraiser botched my appraisal Square Footage is Significantly Understated

[Michigan CG]

Are you saying that the sketch from the assessor and three other appraisals are identical?

HHHmmmm,.......

 

[Caterina Platt]

Question: does the upper floor living area follow the pitch of the roof on the interior?

If your sidewalls of the upper floor interior are shorter than 5', many appraisers follow ANSI standards for measurement and will only include the living area from 5' or taller.

Could this be your discrepancy issue?

 

[residentialguy]

Are you saying that the sketch from the assessor and three other appraisals are identical?

HHHmmmm,.......

HHHmmmm, indeed

 

[elodealeaf]

Yes

Yes, it is all > 5' and I know exactly what you mean as my old house was a cape COD and this was not the case.

The problem with appraising these houses is that they are all so different. The best comp was right on my street, but it's a mammoth house that sold in 2011 but it was in horrible shape, but the house and lot were much larger. The house was not in good shape at all.

The other comps are 0.6 - 0.8 miles away in a densely populated, older suburban area.

But I understand that you do the best you can with the comps you have, but the clear error in square footage matched with his appraisal does not work in my favor.

 

[Michigan CG]

The best way to know what is going on is to e-mail or post the sketches and some photos of your house. I would suggest since that guy from Minnesota is here you e-mail him sketches and photos and he knows how to post them on this site.

I am a lowly Certified General and don't have those technical skills.

 

[elodealeaf]

OK, this is becoming frivolous. If you look at the sketch and come in my house, it is clear that the first 3 appraisals I had done on the house are accurate depictions of the house dimensions and the last one, as both bedrooms upstairs are EXACT GEOMETRICAL TWINS IN EVERY THREE DIMENSIONAL WAY, and his diagram depicts one large bedroom upstairs and one small... it is easy to ascertain where the error was made. His sketch of the upstairs is clearly incorrect. It's as simple as that. I'll have to take my chances and I'll ask a real estate agent for advice.

Again, ALL 4 appraisals sketch the downstairs living area with the exact same dimensions.

 

[Koya]

A couple of questions:

- Are your two upstairs bedrooms full-height for the floor area or does either ceiling slope down to follow the roofline at any point?

- You say you've been back and forth with the appraiser and he acknowledged there is a measurement error. What exactly did he say about the measurement error? Also what exactly did he say about why he wouldn't come out and remeasure it if he did acknowledge an error?

 

[Caterina Platt]

Even thought it's right on your street, the differences you describe lead me to believe it may not have been the best comparable.

What we appraisers look at is basically what you as a buyer would consider relatively equal to your home.

Assume for a minute that you are on the market for a home like yours. Similar size, condition, room count, etc. While the location of the vehemouth down the street is indeed similar, are the remainder of the features?

 

[Calvin the Airedale]

Forgive me for not reading the last few posts.

First, as far as I know, in Ohio you don't have to submit the appraisal report at the time of the complaint unless you wish to waive your right to a hearing. You must have it delivered to most BORs a week before the hearing but even then, most will let you walk in with it the day of the hearing provided you ask for this convenience and bring enough copies to give to each of the three hearing officers and and anyone attending on a counter-complaint (usually the rep from the school board).

I have testified in three counties and found the procedures to be only slightly different.

Secondly, living area is established by exterior measurements, and not from interior dimensions. Did you measure the exterior?

Third, value correlates nicely with living area in this and most other states. If the appraiser's report of living area is accurate, he may be doing you a favor. One for which you will have dragged his name through the mud by your lack of understanding.

I suggest you cool down and if you are not yet convinced that the living area is properly reported, get a tape measure, go outside and measure the thing yourself. Cape upper stories are usually a half story in living area but you can measure from the interior to depth at a height of 5' ceiling height and determine for yourself.

 

[gregb]

Yes, it is all > 5' and I know exactly what you mean as my old house was a cape COD and this was not the case.

The problem with appraising these houses is that they are all so different. The best comp was right on my street, but it's a mammoth house that sold in 2011 but it was in horrible shape, but the house and lot were much larger. The house was not in good shape at all.

The other comps are 0.6 - 0.8 miles away in a densely populated, older suburban area.

But I understand that you do the best you can with the comps you have, but the clear error in square footage matched with his appraisal does not work in my favor.

If the last appraiser measured your house with less gross living area (square footage) than the assessor and three prior appraisers did, how does the smaller gross living area not work in your favor on a tax appeal?