Poor Floor Plan

[Kevin A. Spellman]

Your post sound like there could be two large walk-through closets. A bedroom must possess a means of egress and possess privacy with a door. You have only a door. These two former bedrooms can no longer be label as sleeping quarters. They are either a large closet or a common room.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

Sounds like an excessive risk rating. If you're doing one.

 

[cridgely01]

:new_snipersmilie:Good call--Wachovia calls it adverse factor rating...And thats NOT funny its...its.... something but funny is not what Im thinking:new_rotcol:

 

[Mike Kennedy]

suggest posting the sketch next time.

 

[cridgely01]

I would be its not done yet...

 

[Mike Millson]

I've seen this in a few Baltimore row houses from time to time. Your 2nd floor solution is to make the previous(old) bedroom a sitting room. Like a master bedroom would have a connected sitting area/rm. Don't count the area as 2 bedrooms. That has helped me in the past.

It becomes a problem when the addition is a bath room and you have to pass through the original bedroom to use it. I had that in Fells Point before.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Call these rooms what you like. You are the appraiser; not the building inspector. Just make certain that you tell the client exactly what you have told us.

If you think there is a problem, advise the client to have the rooms inspected by the local building code enforcement agency.

As to the market reaction, if there are no comps, you have to decide and make a professional estimate as to the market reaction to this non-typical floor plan. On the basis of that judgment, you also have to decide if you are going to call these rooms bedrooms or not.

 

[Farm Gal]

Richard, I agree that she is the appraiser, however I as an expereinced appraiser, do not want to be in the position of titleing a 'room' (den office sitting room whatever) as a BEDroom if the room is not legal for habitation for sleeping.

No, we are not ordinace police, but the legal and ethical responsibility to compare the house with other homes 'of comparable deisgn and worth' is not well met by titleing a uninhabitable for sleeping purposes room as a BEDroom.

If the market has acceptance of this type of situation and you are lucky enough to find comps REAL comparables with similar defect... you can prove that the rooms are marketable as 'other' GLA... but I still wouldn't call em BEDrooms.

One kid toasts in a fire? I don't want MY name on anything that said I gave Mom-n-Dad any kind of tacit permission to park the crib in that room. Nope, its an 'other' defined as seems most fitting!:icon_idea:

 

[hastalavista]

Richard, I agree that she is the appraiser, however I as an expereinced appraiser, do not want to be in the position of titleing a 'room' (den office sitting room whatever) as a BEDroom if the room is not legal for habitation for sleeping.

Lee Ann-

I'm in agreement with the thrust of your post above.
In such a situation, I would describe the rooms as they are, state that they are being used as bedrooms, and then make a statement of their acceptability in the market as bedrooms. In my markets, they would not be acceptable as bedrooms by the typical buyer and I would not count them as bedrooms.

Too many times I've reviewed appraisal reports where they will count additional rooms as bedrooms when they are not fully functional as such. The problem that I see happening is once this determination is made, the report will then proceed to use same bedroom-count properties as comps. The comparables were designed around having the bedroom count they have and therefore have a functional floor plan that is acceptable in the market. The subject's additional bedrooms are an afterthought, not functionally designed to have a flowing floor plan, and therefore do not have the same acceptance in the market.
The consequence is this: if the higher (and functional) bedroom count has value in the market, then the subject's value is based on something it doesn't have (a higher and fully functional bedroom count configuration).

Certainly there are some exceptions to this general experience. In San Francisco, for example, older Victorian 2-4's are commonly listed as "flats" with a room count; some of these rooms (parlors, formal dining rooms, etc.) are used as bedrooms and have value as such in the rental market. That is why it is critical to determine the market acceptance of the floor plan first, and then decide which comps best match the subject. Somewhat like a HBU for the floor plan.

Good luck! :new_smile-l:

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Richard, I agree that she is the appraiser, however I as an experienced appraiser, do not want to be in the position of titling a 'room' (den office sitting room whatever) as a Bedroom if the room is not legal for habitation for sleeping.

Since when do we legally title a room?

We appraise it to its "as is" utility.

If it appears that it might be illegal, then let the UW order the inspection. Our job is to consider the market's reaction to the way it is configured and use as of the effective date. In this case, we note what we see, warning the client and advising the client that they might want to have a code inspection done.

In case you have not read the Intended Use of the report, there is no place in the Intended Use that mentions that the report will be used to codify the rooms. As to the buyer being lured into believing the rooms are legal bedrooms and making a buying decision on based on the report, I suggest you add two of my additional comments from page 3:

1. The Intended User is the client noted in the report. The Intended Use is assist the client in lending consideration. No other user or use is contemplated or authorized.

9. No decision to buy or sell should be based on the opinion of value or the comments/data contained within this report. Such use of this report is not an Intended Use of this report as contemplated by the author.

You will not see anywhere in the Certs that the appraiser has taken on the responsibility for determination of building codes. In fact, read Cert 14 on the FNMA report (especially sentences 2 and 3).