Condo common area appraisal

[Galaxy]

How would one go about appraising a staircase (~100 sf) in a rowhouse condominium, used only by one of three owners, for sale to that owner? A connecting staircase does not add as much value to a home as a bedroom or bath, but how does one approach this problem?

 

[glenn walker]

How would one go about appraising a staircase (~100 sf) in a rowhouse condominium, used only by one of three owners, for sale to that owner? A connecting staircase does not add as much value to a home as a bedroom or bath, but how does one approach this problem?

I would not appraise it because its not a real estate issue , the three owners can figure it out themselves, thses are things that are based on an-individual need and an-adjustment cannot be extracted from the market, also a cost is not accurate because -the unit needs a staircase. Anyway I would walk from this assignment. P.S> They all know what they wants and now its just going to be a squabble between the three and like a family feud you can never win .

 

[Galaxy]

So true! But isn't there some information or method that we can use to appraise a small property like this? After all, until it is combined with a home, it is a piece of real estate just like a parking place, storage room, strip of land, or whatever. Everything has value, so there must be a precedence here....?

 

[Tom D]

well, as silly as this sounds, wouldn't the owner of that unit own that private staircase. doesn't that staircase area count as part of the unit's GLA. so in fact you have accounted for it in the GLA. now how much more for that 'entry privacy' without similar comps. now you're getting in the minutia where USPAP will eat you up without actual proof. you can always give it some credit when picking a price in the adjusted price range. i would keep it a mystery $ amount, unless you like to stutter in court.

 

[J Grant]

So true! But isn't there some information or method that we can use to appraise a small property like this? After all, until it is combined with a home, it is a piece of real estate just like a parking place, storage room, strip of land, or whatever. Everything has value, so there must be a precedence here....?

Uh,,,not everything has a value - because if there is no demand, aka nobody wants to pay for a thing, it has no value -

Even if most things have value, not all things have a market value. To have a market value, there has to be a market of a pool of buyers who would compete for the thing, and able to buy a substitute . There is no market of competing buyer for this staircase, there is only the one buyer who owns the condo unit it would service. Likewise, the sellers of this staircase has a unique product control, since the condo unit owner can not just go out and for cost buy a staircase. What they are really purchasing are the rights - change of use from common element to private owner use .. .

It might be possible to compare $ gains in value of a condo unit which has a private elevator or stairs vs condo units using common stairs or elevator - but how? Some assignments are too oddball to be worth it. Esp with THREE people -aka three's a crowd - and for some reason, condos can bring out the nasty side of owners -

There have been condo lawsuits and decade long disputes about the most petty of items - a saying - "The fighting was so dirty because the stakes were so low>"

 

[glenn walker]

this is non-sense

 

[glenn walker]

So true! But isn't there some information or method that we can use to appraise a small property like this? After all, until it is combined with a home, it is a piece of real estate just like a parking place, storage room, strip of land, or whatever. Everything has value, so there must be a precedence here....?

NO - NO - NO -!!!!

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Everything has value, so there must be a precedence here....?

stairs are attached to the building. It is co-owned and I cannot imagine the situation where the stairs and landings wouldn't either be the property of one party, or common property for all to use- in which case you can partition its proportionate cost with the land, driveway, etc. Small isn't it? BUT, the common areas "in use" are generally not fungible items. They cannot be sold for their intended purpose.

if there is no demand, aka nobody wants to pay for a thing, it has no value -

I believe we call that "value in use" and "insurable value" would be the cost to replace a burned or damaged staircase. This is a cost issue, not an independent sales (market) issue. And the first question is this an item owned by the POA as a whole? Or co-owned by the occupants?

 

[Lee Lansford]

How would one go about appraising a staircase (~100 sf) in a rowhouse condominium, used only by one of three owners, for sale to that owner? A connecting staircase does not add as much value to a home as a bedroom or bath, but how does one approach this problem?

What's $ per SF of GLA?

 

[J Grant]

stairs are attached to the building. It is co-owned and I cannot imagine the situation where the stairs and landings wouldn't either be the property of one party, or common property for all to use- in which case you can partition its proportionate cost with the land, driveway, etc. Small isn't it? BUT, the common areas "in use" are generally not fungible items. They cannot be sold for their intended purpose.
I believe we call that "value in use" and "insurable value" would be the cost to replace a burned or damaged staircase. This is a cost issue, not an independent sales (market) issue. And the first question is this an item owned by the POA as a whole? Or co-owned by the occupants?

More of buying property rights than straight cost - they are not really buying a "staircase", they are buying the exclusive right to use the staircase - and changing the use from a common element to a private owned and able to convey with their unit -I assume the condo docs would need to be changed to reflect it.