Permanent Foundations ?

[Ranch Owner]

I have a rental house on my ranch with limited foundation. It has not been included in my past appraisals due to it not having a " Permanent Foundation ". What would constitute a permanent foundation for this 1000 sq. ft. house to be included in an appraisal? Would concrete blocks set in cement holes suffice? Thank-you for your responses.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

Welcome to the forum!

For clarification, could you explain what a "limited" foundation is? It seems to be local terminology that many appraisers on the forum may not understand.

Thanks!

 

[CANative]

Is this a factory built house (manufactured, mobile or modular)?

Permanent foundation is a legal term rather than a physical description. Each municipality, jurisdiction, city, county, etc. has their own requirements and they can vary between structure type, soil condition, topogrpahy, etc, etc.

For lending purposes "permananet foundation" usually refers to factory built residences. They want to know if constructive notice has been met so that the unit is not considered personal property and can't be removed with permits and notification to interested parties (read lien holders). In California, for manufactured homes, this is accomplished by the recordation of a CA HCD Form 433A (California Housing and Community Development). It shows that the foundation meets the requirements of the local jurisdiction as a "permanent foundation."

 

[Ariba]

I have a rental house on my ranch with limited foundation. It has not been included in my past appraisals due to it not having a " Permanent Foundation ". What would constitute a permanent foundation for this 1000 sq. ft. house to be included in an appraisal? Would concrete blocks set in cement holes suffice? Thank-you for your responses.

Here is some other information any appraiser would need for it to be contributing in any value. Is the house legal for the zoning? Is it a manufactured House? How is it used? Can it be rented?

 

[stefan olafson]

Check with your local county building officials first. They should be able to let you know what is required and also if it's a permitted use on your property.

Permananent foundation means many things to many appraisers, our input isn't any good without first finding out what your county thinks.

 

[Ranch Owner]

Permanent Foundation

The house is the original house for the property. Probably build early 1900's. It's limited foundation consists of redwood blocking for @ 75% of the foundation. The porches on each side of the house have 5- 4"x6" set in concrete, they form the original roof. This is the limited foundation. I believe there are 4 other concrete piers under the house.
If I simply set concrete piers in cement where they would normally be placed per code, for a building of this size, would the next appraiser be obliged to add the value of the house? To complicate matters at sometime in the future I intend to move the house several hundred feet from it's current location. So I am not inclined to spend alot of money, and time with enginerred plans, etc. But would like to utilize the value of the house not previously used in past appraisals. Location is Northern California. Thanks again !

 

[Webbed Feet]

The house is the original house for the property. Probably build early 1900's. It's limited foundation consists of redwood blocking for @ 75% of the foundation. The porches on each side of the house have 5- 4"x6" set in concrete, they form the original roof. This is the limited foundation. I believe there are 4 other concrete piers under the house.
If I simply set concrete piers in cement where they would normally be placed per code, for a building of this size, would the next appraiser be obliged to add the value of the house? To complicate matters at sometime in the future I intend to move the house several hundred feet from it's current location. So I am not inclined to spend alot of money, and time with enginerred plans, etc. But would like to utilize the value of the house not previously used in past appraisals. Location is Northern California. Thanks again !

Mr. or Ms. Ranch Owner,

You have a LOT more going on than "permanent foundation" issues. That concept applies more to manufactured homes. Not site built era properties that have been sitting there for decades on an unusual or post and pier foundation system.

I am known for being a bit blunt. I suspect the prior lenders involved told those appraisers to "not consider" the second house on your land because it caused you not to qualify for the loan they were selling you. So POOF! Crap was pulled that should have been pulled. Then the lenders staff told you the appraiser said they could not include it due to the foundation issue. I bet this was one fat smoke screen covering up the real issues. Also, the second house may or may not be legal if you have zoning there. So they covered that up. Some loan officer wanted to cover up you had a tenent occupied situation, so they covered that up. Or just general all around incompetency. So they covered that up too. I can only guess, and that is all anyone on this forum can do.

You need to research this at your planning department, get a very good appraiser and honest loan officer to advise you before you spend money on that foundation. Because I think you are chasing ghosts that were not what was really going on.

Webbed.

 

[Restrain]

We've got homes around here that are built on bois 'd arc posts and on field rock foundations. No different than what you've got, and they lend on those all day long.

Webbed probably has the issues nailed. They don't want to lend on a property with a 2nd home, or a tenant-occupied home, or whatever makes the loan not meet their secondary lending guidelines.

I think a long talk with the loan agent would be a good idea before the next loan, if there's going to be one.