"deal Killer" No Value Added For Permited Guest House

[suzuki4444]

I will keep it on the market for probably two more weeks and you are right, every single appraiser out there is competent and your also right, my guest house is worth zero.

 

[EddieB]

...you are right, every single appraiser out there is competent and your also right, my guest house is worth zero.

How you've come to this conclusion if beyond me and is an example of what appraiser's face daily. You have gotten excellent advise on this thread but how you deal or go from here is up to you. Good luck!

 

[TRESinc]

I will keep it on the market for probably two more weeks and you are right, every single appraiser out there is competent and your also right, my guest house is worth zero.

you come here asking for information, we provide it, you don't like it so you whine about it.

flip it and think again - every homeowner knows the value of their property better than those who trained for up to 5 years, passed a very difficult test, have taken continuing education classes every year since and on average have 15+ years of experience. ya, that makes sense.

 

[suzuki4444]

Eddie B., you are right, I would have been screwed if it wasn't for this forum. I sent a copy of the appraisal to the State Board which I never knew existed and had feedback
that I could only get from appraisers that do this day after day which I consider invaluable. Thanks again for everyone's help and time.

 

[bnmappraisal]

no, you are not entitled to any reasoning behind the appraised value. the appraisal was completed for the lender, no one else. it is their money that is being sought here. perhaps you should hire a local appraiser to have them perform an appraisal on your home and see where it lands

To the OP - I definitely agree! I've read through this thread and have been following it, too (on & off). If you honestly feel it's worth the $69k more, hire a local appraiser (you say the guy who did yours was from approx. 70 miles away, right?) Hire a local appraiser, pay the few hundred dollars (well worth it if you think you're going to get $69k more!) and get another opinion. I would make sure they are familiar with your type of property (Main house with ADU). Granted, this appraisal may not be usable for any future potential buyer, but at least YOU will be able to speak with this appraiser directly, since you are the client.

I also do a number of private appraisals and actually prefer these for that exact reason! When the homeowner/seller is the client and they have questions/concerns (as you obviously do) they can call me directly and ask! I don't always have the answer they are "looking for" but at least they end up understanding WHY that answer is the way it is. Sadly with purchases using financing (generally speaking) this is not the case.

When I have the lender (bank) as a client (no matter WHO pays for the appraisal, at least in FL) THEY are my client. And when you throw an AMC into the mix, it gets even messier (The AMC is the client, I don't have any direct contact with the lender/bank, buyer nor seller - maybe an agent, but definitely am not discussing the appraisal, just confirming information). I have a classic example of this from a few years ago - sort of similar to your case: Subject was Single Fam with ADU. Long story short, the borrower (this was a refi) called me directly (had my # from my business card) and asked why I was NOT giving her value for her ADU (Guest/In Law Qtrs in my market). I had to tell her "Ma'am, I am not allowed to discuss the report. You will have to go back to your lender and have them contact me through the proper channels." For me, personally, this was VERY frustrating as I KNOW I was giving her credit for the ADU, but it was on a separate line in the report.

The moral of that story is, we as appraisers are bound by confidentiality to NOT discuss the report with anyone but our clients, unless given direct permission to do so. Since you are not an intended user nor the client, the appraiser cannot defend himself (one way or another) against your claims unless you file a complaint. I am in NO means saying one way or the other for you to do so, as I have not seen the report, nor know your market. I just wanted to throw it out there what we see (sadly) very often these days. I won't speak for every appraiser, but I think many will agree, it can be frustrating to have the public VEHEMENTLY disagree with our opinions and NOT be able to say a thing about it unless it's "defending" ourselves in front of a board, etc...

Just my $0.02 - I wish you luck in the sale of your house and am interested in the outcome; if you don't mind eventually sharing

 

[Functional Obs]

I have a question about the appraisal that was done on my house in Montgomery County, Texas. I have
a 600 sq. ft. guest house (permitted) with an oversized garage (640 sq.
ft.) attached with a complete kitchen and full bathroom all brick that
was built when my house was built using the same materials as the main
house which is 1950 sq. ft. but the appraiser is giving the guest house
a 0 $ value. Both houses are on separate electric meters. The homes were
built in 1997 and I have to insure the guest house at $118k and the main
home at 210k. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to have
this added to my appraisal. I would think it adds at least as much value
as a closet. I also have a contract on my property which is
going to fall through. There are no other homes in this neighborhood
that have a self contained guest house so there are no comps to use, also both houses
have been completely updated. Can anything be done. Thank you.

If you have a feature that nobody wants, then folks won't pay any more for it.

Other guest-house-type stuff:

"We have a generator."

"We have a hot tub!"

"We have surplus land."

"We have ..." fill in the blank.

Guest houses, other than around Thanksgiving time, just aren't very sexy to most people.