Detached Duplex Property Question

[appraisalaska]

I am appraising a property in a rural area where the borough does not have zoning. There is a purchase appraisal I'm doing, and the lender ordered this as a single family home. At inspection, I found out there are two separately metered residences on the property. The main house is approx. 1700 sq. feet and the additional unit is 1100 sq feet. The additional unit offers a full kitchen, bath, bedroom, and living area. However, it is missing a little drywall in some areas, when I came to inspect (it was on lock box and the main house is vacant) this extra unit was unlocked, and obviously has not been lived in for years. With minimal work this would be a functioning unit.

I disclosed this to the lender and said that it was my understanding this needed to be completed as a duplex. They agreed and re-ordered it as a 1025 small income property appraisal. However, obviously facing some resistence from the other parties involved, they are coming back and asking me to complete the appraisal on the main house only and consider the extra unit an outbuilding or storage.

My understanding is that I couldn't consider an extra unit as a 'mother-in-law' if the square footage is greater than 35% of the total GLA. I'm trying to find the definition of duplex vs. single family in USPAP or my other appraising literature but am coming up with a blank.

Either way, I want to find something that clarifies my concern. Anybody run into this before?

 

[VegasWayne]

Duplex. A house containing two separate dwelling units, side by side or one above the other; also describes apartments that occupy two levels or a portion of two floors.

What you have described doesn't sound like a duplex.
From the FHA valuation protocol:
The accessory unit is defined as a habitable living unit added to, created within, or detached from a single–family dwelling that provides the basic requirements for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) are commonly understood to be a separate additional living unit, including separate kitchen, sleeping, and bathroom facilities, attached or detached from the primary residential unit, on a single–family lot. ADUs are usually subordinate in size, location, and appearance to the primary unit and may or may not have separate means of ingress or egress.
Attached units, contained within a single–family home, known variously as "mother–in–law apartments," are the most common type of accessory dwelling unit. Accessory units usually involve the renovation of a garage, basement, or small addition to a single–family home.


There is no mention of a 35% size limitation, so it would appear that what you have is a single-family with detached accessory unit. The separate power meter could be an issue.

 

[appraisalaska]

That was one of my main concerns as well. The separate meter is what made me start thinking of a detached duplex. I have completed detached duplexes and they were all separately metered. Thank you for the information you found in the FHA protocol; I'll keep digging to see if I can find anything concerning the meter.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

I have little sound knowledge of this issue but I seem to recall that the FHA defintion of ADU is incompatible with the typical working definition of 2nd units in most jurisdictions with a general plan.

 

[Don Clark]

I would treat it as an accessory unit. There is likely going to be few, very few duplex style properties in rural areas, at least in the rural areas I do. And, for future referrence, USPAP does not get into definitions of property types, styles, and the like.

I have, in the past, completed such a property as a duplex for the VA. It was like pulling hen's teeth to find comps in a 10-20 mile radius. Today, I would treat it as an accessory unit.