NYGAL
Sophomore Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- New York
From the AMC Review appraiser: “The subject has a finished basement. Per Fannie Mae guidelines, all finished living area (both above and below grade) is considered GBA. Please explain why this area was not included in the GBA of unit 1”.
I took this from prior post in regards to calculating the basement in the total GBA:
Fannie 2009 Selling Guide Pg .473
Gross Building Area
Gross building area:
• is the total finished area including any interior common areas, such as stairways and hallways of the improvements based on exterior measurements.
• is the most common comparison for two- to four-unit properties.
• must be consistently developed for the subject property and all comparables used in the appraisal.
• must include all finished above-grade and below-grade living areas, counting all interior common areas such as stairways, hallways, storage rooms, etc.
• cannot count exterior common areas such as open stairways.
Fannie Mae will accept the use of other comparisons for two- to four-unit properties (such as the total above-grade and below-grade areas) provided the appraiser:
• explains the reasons he or she did not use a gross building area comparison, and
• clearly describes the comparisons that were made.
My subject is a 2 family house, I normally only include above grade finished areas in the GBA of the grid and then adjust separately for finished basement area, report the total SF of all units in the grid to be consistence to the units SF as reported on page one and on the rental grid. The only times that I includes the basement in my GBA is when the rental unit is located in the basement which is not the case of my subject. I am having hard time with the AMC reviewer who did not understand why I did not want to include a finished basement in the GBA. In our market this is the best and most accurate method to report the basement area, separately from the above grade areas on the designated line… furthermore this is the most common method used by local appraisers to report GBA for multifamily. All my comparables were treated the same in regards to the way GBA was calculated. I really need help with responding to the AMC reviewer and appreciate any comment or suggestions. Thank you.
I took this from prior post in regards to calculating the basement in the total GBA:
Fannie 2009 Selling Guide Pg .473
Gross Building Area
Gross building area:
• is the total finished area including any interior common areas, such as stairways and hallways of the improvements based on exterior measurements.
• is the most common comparison for two- to four-unit properties.
• must be consistently developed for the subject property and all comparables used in the appraisal.
• must include all finished above-grade and below-grade living areas, counting all interior common areas such as stairways, hallways, storage rooms, etc.
• cannot count exterior common areas such as open stairways.
Fannie Mae will accept the use of other comparisons for two- to four-unit properties (such as the total above-grade and below-grade areas) provided the appraiser:
• explains the reasons he or she did not use a gross building area comparison, and
• clearly describes the comparisons that were made.
My subject is a 2 family house, I normally only include above grade finished areas in the GBA of the grid and then adjust separately for finished basement area, report the total SF of all units in the grid to be consistence to the units SF as reported on page one and on the rental grid. The only times that I includes the basement in my GBA is when the rental unit is located in the basement which is not the case of my subject. I am having hard time with the AMC reviewer who did not understand why I did not want to include a finished basement in the GBA. In our market this is the best and most accurate method to report the basement area, separately from the above grade areas on the designated line… furthermore this is the most common method used by local appraisers to report GBA for multifamily. All my comparables were treated the same in regards to the way GBA was calculated. I really need help with responding to the AMC reviewer and appreciate any comment or suggestions. Thank you.
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