not permitted but does it add value?

[Lawrence R.]

A statement like this can be made " family room does not appear to be permitted/appraisers cannot verify if a permit was pulled. Appraiser is giving the family room value on the report, as these types of additions on older homes are typical for the area, and paired sales show buyers are paying more for homes with extension/additonal living area added to home."

Why can't you verify it? More like, appraiser DID NOT verify, and I think that would be a violation.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

As an aside: Pasadena requires a public inspection and a new Certificate of Occupancy each time a property transfers or a new lease is established. Non-permitted areas must become permitted or demolished. Several folks have told me that LA City now does the same but the enormousnous of that project is incomprehensible.

Comment: I'm not sure whether a property in this jurisdiction could be appraised "as is" with a cost to cure unless the jurisdictional compliance cost is measured solely by the cost to obtain the permit, in addition to the cost to cure the deficiencies.

 

[Lobo Fan]

In my market, the cities do not keep records of permits past as certain date, some as recent as 1999. Others are 1985. In some neighborhoods, it was common to add another room with every new child. Or homes built in the 1930s still being assessed as vacant lots.

The question I have is not so much determining the legality but the compliance. I worked on a 40 year old house that had a big addition along the back and the garage was converted to an additional living unit. The city condemned the entire house due to the addition. They said that the original structure was weakened by the addition and that the addition was not built to code.

It was a REO and in order to transfer, the seller had to hire a structural engineer to certify that the original structure was still sound. Once that was established, the addition had to go through plan check and the inspection process. Someone was going to have to dig out the footings, open up the drywall, etc. Not sure how it was all going to be dome without almost destroying the addition.

In this case the addition may be a negative value. The C2C may exceed any additional value added by the extra GLA.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Job I'm doing now in Pasadena includes a smallish wooden dog house attached to the rear of the detached garage. No big deal, eh? The city inspector noted that the "addition" entailed removal of the garage structural support beams, wich I would not have realized. Report completed "subject to" COO being granted.

 

[J Grant]

okay, then you could change the langauge to did not verify.

 

[Lawrence R.]

okay, then you could change the langauge to did not verify.

XI, 404.01: Zoning (01/31/06)
The appraiser is responsible for reporting the specific zoning classification for the subject property. The appraiser must include a general statement to describe what the zoning permits—“one-family,” “two-family,” etc.—when he or she indicates a specific zoning such as R-1, R-2, etc. The appraiser also must include a specific statement indicating whether the improvements represent a legal use; a legal, but non-conforming (grandfathered) use; or an illegal use under the zoning regulations; or whether there is no local zoning.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

The COMPETENCY RULE requires recognition of, and compliance with, laws and regulations that apply to the appraiser or to the assignment.

STANDARDS RULE 1-2(e): An appraiser must identify the characteristics of the property that are relevant to the type and definition of value and intended use of the appraisal, including:

(i) its location and physical, legal, and economic attributes;

(iv) any known easements, restrictions, encumbrances, leases, reservations, covenants, contracts, declarations, special assessments, ordinances, or other items of a similar nature; and

 

[Webbed Feet]

okay, then you could change the langauge to did not verify.

Ms. Grant,

I feel you have some real issues with your overall concept of trying to dodge the bullet regarding the permits issue via using an EA to try and cover yourself on an FHA assignment if your client is requiring the use of 03/2005 forms.

A) If you don't use CB4 and require an inspection, your EA is not allowed.
B) Certification 10 does not allow you to use owner supplied information unless you find a third party to verify it.
C) If you proceed to use CB1 to indicate an "As-Is" value when you have good reason to believe an addition may be unpermitted, and hence may be illegally constructed and at risk of a J.A. requiring it be torn down or proved to be in compliance with a permit required, you now have the responsibility to prove you really have comps that sold under that same situation in order to prove marketability and value. I don't know about your area, but in my area this is no small task.

I think I could maybe come up with some more thoughts on it, but in my location, if I am worried about an addition, the public county web sites are showing no permits obtained, the property owner is wiggling around on me about it, I call my client and they either approve the research regarding permits exposing the owner to getting red tagged, or they get an CB3 or CB4 report with either an HC or EA the owner has to get or supply proof of permits and J.A. safety inspections.

Webbed.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Rick & Restrain:

I understand your perspective concerning the need to main confidentiality, but how does one discuss the permit history of a specfic property without identifying that property, if the counter clerk is physically between the appraiser and the data?

 

[Financially Feasible]

WARNING

Calling the City and effectively giving them a heads-up on a violation
can be a VERY sticky situation.

I would hesitate -long and hard- about giving them an address;
if they then want it torn down, or just hassle the owner as a result of the
phone call, guess who is liable to get a lawsuit aimed at them?

That is indeed sage advice. Riick - what would the City of Wilmington say if you called them with a question similar to what the OP wants to ask? :icon_mrgreen: