In-Law Apartment and lost square fottage

[trachal]

I want to know if an in law quarters should get a special credit on my appraisal? Also is it fair for an appraiser to suddenly discount or not even include space because they feel it no longer belongs to the house even though the town includes it and I pay tax on in? I have lived in this house for more than five years and paid tax on 1800 square feet suddenly when getting an appraisal over 400 of that square footage does not count anymore, Do I have recourse here in Massachusetts or do I have to just accept this? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[DonRico]

Interesting case....I'm curious for more details.

1- Does the In-Law Quarters include a 2nd kitchen ?? Full Bath ??

2- Did you add this space after you purchased the house 5 years ago ?? Permits ?? Certificate of Occupancy signed off ??

3- How did you verify the assessor has you down for 1800 sq ft ??

4- Is any part of the missing square footage below grade ??

 

[Peacemaker]

You need to provide more information before anyone here can even respond intelligently.

Is the in-law suite attached to your main house or detached?
If attached, can you make entry to the suite from inside your main house, or do you have to go outside to access it?
Does it have the same quality/type/finish of construction as the main house?
Does it have the same type of heating and/or cooling as the main house?
Is the structure legally permissible as per your local zoning code? Does it meet all the requirements in the code that address accessory units?
Was the structure built with permits and did it pass all inspections?
Are the utilities for the in-law suite on a separate meter?

All of those things COULD be factors that affect value one way or another. If the appraiser in your case did a good job they would have answered all those questions (among others) and then measured what a typical buyer in the market would likely pay for a similar property. They would compare your property to others that have recently sold (or, at times more tellingly, what has not sold).

 

[Metamorphic]

Typically there are differences in the way assessors and appraisers will report an accessory dwelling. Usually appraisers will put the main house living area (GLA) on the GLA line of the appraisal report form. Accessory dwelling footage will either get put on the basement line (if the house does not have a basement) or one of the assignable lines below. The county assessor may just bundle both living areas together for their purposes.

It would be unusual for an appraiser to give a substantial 2nd dwelling no value; although it may be possible if its marginally habitable. Typically if an appraiser was going to give it no value that would be something they would need to explain in the addendum. If you've read the report cover to cover and the 2nd dwelling is not mentioned anywhere and there is no separate line item adjustment in the comparables grid, you'd definitely have a good reason to go back to your lender and have them take another look at the report.

 

[Webbed Feet]

I want to know if an in law quarters should get a special credit on my appraisal? Also is it fair for an appraiser to suddenly discount or not even include space because they feel it no longer belongs to the house even though the town includes it and I pay tax on in? I have lived in this house for more than five years and paid tax on 1800 square feet suddenly when getting an appraisal over 400 of that square footage does not count anymore, Do I have recourse here in Massachusetts or do I have to just accept this? Thank you in advance for your help.

It is very doubtful that the mission of an independent real estate appraiser, for refinance, divorce, or other work, is remotely the same as the mission of your tax assessment department. The same standards are not used at all. So what your town does regarding taxation has no bearing on what an independent real estate appraiser would have to do for a bank for a refinance appraisal.

Other than the above, what you have posted is too vague to answer you much more than what I have. If an in-law unit (accessory dwelling unit, "ADU") is not attached to the main house, or if one must walk through unfinished, and unheated space (a garage) to get to it, then by definition it is not considered "Gross Living Area" (GLA) for secondary market mortgage purposes (Fannie Mae, Etc) ... It would therefore be considered separately from the main house and not included in the GLA of the house in the appraisal analyses. Beyond this, I would have to ask you on the order of 20 or so questions just to begin to fathom the actual situation going on, why or why not some appraiser did not consider an ADU to have additional value to the market your property is in.

The above said, all of this should be explained in ANY appraisal report so that it is understandable why, or why not, any such ADU either does or does not have value in that real estate market. If this is NOT explained then you should contact whoever it was that ordered the real estate appraisal and tell them to tell the appraiser that you will file a state appraisal board complaint if it does not get explained in a fashion that is understandable and backed up with market evidence to prove it to you.

 

[Walter Kirk]

Its hard to tell from your post what the problem is. Are you talking about unheated space, space without adequate ceiling height or porch space?

If you are being taxed on space which does not exist or has limited value you should discuss the matter with the Tax Assessor's office.

 

[Greenback]

...I want to know if an in law quarters should get a special credit on my appraisal? Also is it fair for an appraiser to suddenly discount or not even include space because they feel it no longer belongs to the house even though the town includes it and I pay tax on in? I have lived in this house for more than five years and paid tax on 1800 square feet suddenly when getting an appraisal over 400 of that square footage does not count anymore, Do I have recourse here in Massachusetts or do I have to just accept this? Thank you in advance for your help.

What was the purpose of the Appraisal, and supposedly used for (as well as, the prior Appraisal)?

Functional obsolesence may come into play. Being attached or detached from the main dwelling may or may not contribute to market value.

Depending on the level of accrued depreciation, market behavior's preference tward 'square foot' may hold significant weight in the reconciliation whether it's attached (and part of GLA) or even if it's detached.

Do you have any pictures that you can post (from various angles, as well as, the interior)?

Disclosure: I am a Real Estate Appraiser Trainee

Sincerely,

 

[Lobo Fan]

There are specific rules regarding the inclusion of accessory units. It must be accessible from heated space to be included in the overall GLA or gross living area. If you must go outside ot through an unheated area to enter the accessory unit then it should not be included in the base GLA.

It does add value and should be attributed elsewhere in the report. You may have a zoning issue. The second unit may not be allowed under current zoning diminishing the value.

It is doubtful that this area went completely unaddressed. How it is addressed depends upon your situation.

 

[Webbed Feet]

You need to provide more information before anyone here can even respond intelligently.

Ditto!!!!

As you can tell, by all the questions and guesses we are making, your post about the situation is very inadequate. Again, what your tax assessors department is doing has no bearing at all. It's more likely you have a bone to pick with the tax assessor than the appraiser.

 

[Deleted member 128537]

I deal with this quite a bit because there are a number of homes in my area that have this arrangement due to waterfront recreational properties. If an accessory unit cannot be entered directly from the main house it is not part of the Gross Living Area. It is called a detached home with an accessory unit. The accessory unit will be given a value that is determined by the market demand for that type of unit. But that can be tough to do if there are no comparables like it. Most of the time in purely single family residential areas there is little demand for this type of arrangement and market demand is very difficult to determine. If there were more types of homes like this would be around. If it is very atypical the appraiser will probably give very minimal value if any value at all. If zoning does not allow for renting it, then there would be very little value. If zoning will allow renting it, then the appraiser may find similar rent comparables and do some kind of income analysis. Still a tough thing though. And I would remind you that appraisers are doing this type of appraisal for a client that is a mortgage company. And underwriters hate to see accessory units most of the time.