- Joined
- Jan 15, 2002
- Professional Status
- Licensed Appraiser
- State
- Michigan
For the second time in as many weeks I've run into an old mobile that was added to with a stick built addition. This one was a honey. I mean it was well done. If it had not been for the 1/2 basement and the 7-foot ceilings in the bedrooms, I might have missed it. The crawl space was sealed and there was not the least evidence of a mobile. Only upon questioning the 20-year-old son who was there did the truth come out; it started life as a mobile.
I called the lender and of course he canceled the order right away.
My problem is, even knowing that a house started life as a mobile, there is no way that I can get true comparables that also were mobiles. And with no data, I cannot measure what a knowledgeable buyer would discount for such a house given the inferior start in life and the trouble financing in order to use a site built house. Using mobile comps won't work either.
Therefore, I have made an executive decision that hence forth, if a house began as a mobile and has had site built additions other than entries and breezeways; I am declining the order. Too much liability with too little hard data in this market. Any number I come up with is just an educated guess and I don't like guessing games.
Anybody else having the same problem?
I called the lender and of course he canceled the order right away.
My problem is, even knowing that a house started life as a mobile, there is no way that I can get true comparables that also were mobiles. And with no data, I cannot measure what a knowledgeable buyer would discount for such a house given the inferior start in life and the trouble financing in order to use a site built house. Using mobile comps won't work either.
Therefore, I have made an executive decision that hence forth, if a house began as a mobile and has had site built additions other than entries and breezeways; I am declining the order. Too much liability with too little hard data in this market. Any number I come up with is just an educated guess and I don't like guessing games.
Anybody else having the same problem?