Gross floor foot or gross living area

[CANative]

This is the cabin I'm appraising for Brad (LOL... just kidding.)

The lower level is 18 x 34 or 612 sq.ft. The loft is 18 x 22 (-4 x 12) or 348 sq. ft. The total is 960. That is what the plans call for. That is how the county is going to see it and record it. That is probably how the local Realtors would market it. However, if calculated by ANSI, due to the roof pitch, the living area should be reduced to the size of the large dormer up there of 12 x 14 making the gross living aea 780 square feet. The county planning and building department dose not care about ANSI. I asked them. They say those low head room areas can be used for storage or dressers or cabinets, etc.

How would you proceed in the sales comparison and the cost approach? 160 square feet is a huge difference in a house this small.

 

[Mountain Man]

Greg, we get the same thing up in the mountains. Also get houses with all the bedrooms in the lower "basement" level. I treat those as the market sees them... gross building area, not GLA. Sometimes the ANSI rule book just won't fit what the market says, and in those cases I disclose and go with the market.

 

[Nicholas Durante]

I just did a log cabin with the same layout, and I didn't make any reduction in the square footage based on the following premise:

The total area of the interior of the subject is FILLED with areas in which you cannot stand or occupy - walls, a/c closet, etc.

To account for ONLY the areas in which you can physically stand would be, in my opinion, going above and beyond the expectation of the purpose of measuring as it relates to comparables. Heated Square footage would include areas in which you cannot physically occupy, but they are considered for the purpose of comparables.

Also remember that it is likely that your comparables also experience the same roof pitch issues in the upper living areas, therefore the condition can be accepted as a condition not detrimental to value or diminishing size as it is consistent throughout the market and comparable sales. If you treat all homes used in your report, subject and comps, as all enduring the same variations between posted public records and true usable space, your adjustments will be apples to apples, as NO adjustments to size will be made to ANY properties used in the report.

It is the same type of "non-adjustment" for such items as side entry vs front entry garages. If the subject has a side entry garage, and there appears to be no significant market value variations in the sales of side entry homes and front entry homes, you MUST conclude based on pair sales analysis that the variations in this item does not carry any weight towards the value of the home, although they are clearly visibly different.


Nicholas Durante

 

[CANative]

Thank you Nicholas.

 

[hastalavista]

How would you proceed in the sales comparison and the cost approach? 160 square feet is a huge difference in a house this small.

I agree with M's comment.
However, in the mountains, it may be reasonable to assume most the log cabins are similar; I know when I to go Tahoe to rent a cabin, they are pretty much all the same basic alpine design.

In your case, are your comps similar-type (or, similar enough) type design houses where they'd have the same type of floor utility interior space? If so, I think your good at the larger area. If not????

 

[CANative]

are your comps similar-type (or, similar enough) type design houses where they'd have the same type of floor utility interior space?

Nope. Of course not. This is me, remember?

Pre-cut cabin from Greystokes International (www.greystokes.com) Lavallee model. They're building it in an older, residential area with no building conformity, older cottages, singlewides, singlewides with houses built around them, shacks, etc. Over in the other community, there are a couple of 800 and 900 sf houses recently built but they have very conventional, single level floorplans.

You can find some of these cabins (none that are new) up in a mountianous community of Lake County, about 30 miles away.

*sigh... Stinking little $150k type appraisal and it's going to take hours of noodling around with. On the other hand, I have a $2 million dollar ocean front that I can complete in about an hour.

 

[hastalavista]

Nope. Of course not. This is me, remember?

Yeah, I figured!

But maybe you can use the 2-hours you saved in developing and reporting a detailed IA can be used for this GLA analysis?

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Points for Consideration: 1.5 or 1.7 Cape - including a loft or half or 0.7 story? ...........loft interior measurement or ......half or 0.7 story based on exterior? no rear view on brochure........is it shed dormered or window dormered in rear similar to front? looks like half story plus 2 window dormers in front. possibly....612+ window dormers. 18x34 x 50% plus dormers front + rear if any.:icon_idea: 918 + dormers...... 960+/- looks bout right.

 

[hastalavista]

Points for Consideration: 1.5 or 1.7 Cape - including a loft or half or 0.7 story? ...........loft interior measurement or ......half or 0.7 story based on exterior? no rear view on brochure........is it shed dormered or window dormered in rear similar to front? looks like half story plus 2 window dormers in front. possibly....612+ window dormers. 18x34 x 50% plus dormers front + rear if any.:icon_idea: 918 + dormers...... 960+/- looks bout right.

Sounds reasonable!

 

[CANative]

The on-line photo is just a generic design sample. I've got the modified building plans. There's a single dormer at the back that is 14 feet long and it is 12 feet to the point where ceiling height is less than 6' which then extends down to about a 3 foot wall. About half the area is "open to below."