• Welcome to AppraisersForum.com, the premier online  community for the discussion of real estate appraisal. Register a free account to be able to post and unlock additional forums and features.

Tiny home on acreage question(s)?

Status
Not open for further replies.
The foundation must be certified by an engineer and the Tiny House must be titled in the municipality it is located as real property. If not, it is personal property.
That is certainly not universally true. The definition of real estate by Montana statute is: "Real or immovable property consists of: (1) land; (2) that which is affixed to land; (3) that which is incidental or appurtenant to land; (4) that which is immovable by law."
 
That is certainly not universally true. The definition of real estate by Montana statute is: "Real or immovable property consists of: (1) land; (2) that which is affixed to land; (3) that which is incidental or appurtenant to land; (4) that which is immovable by law."
and who determines if it is affixed to the land and immovable by law?
 
and who determines if it is affixed to the land and immovable by law?
Whoever needs to, I guess. One or the other is sufficient. I rely on the affixed provision regularly...for manufactured, irrigation pivots, etc. The "immovable by law" is new. I had not seen that before.
 
I would want to know the history of this building, permits, inspections, etc, but what makes this different than a "moved" home only smaller, likely in much better condition, and able to be moved in 1 piece?
 
and who determines if it is affixed to the land and immovable by law?
The assessor does here. You can appeal the decision to the Board of Equalization.

Few places in flyover America are regulated like CA, or many mountain states. As any commercial class would teach, "Real Estate" is the land and any building that is attached to the land (no engineer required) and it includes FIXTURES but not TRADE FIXTURES which are affixed items that are owned by someone else. This example comes to mind.

A dealership (small) rented out their shop to a body repair man who fixed cars for them and he installed a frame straightening machine to the floor. After a few years the dealer sold and the new owner wanted to end the lease so the body man began removing the machine from the floor and the owner stopped him. The repairman sued and the court awarded him damages against the new owner. The court ruled it was a TRADE FIXTURE not a FIXTURE. Had the dealership owned the frame machine it would have been a simple FIXTURE and therefore real property. As it was owned by the renter, it was personal property.

I can move a house to my property and the only thing the county requires is a permit (it's the money about $400 or so), requires a soils morph test for the septic which must be installed by a licensed plumber, and approved design by the county sanitarian. Likewise, the plumbing and electrical must be done by a licensed plumber or electrician. Otherwise, they don't even require a permit for a building that has no plumbing or electrical. There is no certification of occupancy. There is no foundation inspection. No interim inspections. Off-grid, a person here can build their own cabin in the woods, and no one can say a thing - except the assessor will add you to the rolls and value the improvements.
 
I can move a house to my property and the only thing the county requires is a permit (it's the money about $400 or so), requires a soils morph test for the septic which must be installed by a licensed plumber, and approved design by the county sanitarian. Likewise, the plumbing and electrical must be done by a licensed plumber or electrician. Otherwise, they don't even require a permit for a building that has no plumbing or electrical. There is no certification of occupancy. There is no foundation inspection. No interim inspections. Off-grid, a person here can build their own cabin in the woods, and no one can say a thing - except the assessor will add you to the rolls and value the improvements.
So what your saying where you live there is no zoning, building codes, property tax, or any restrictions of any kind except for the ones you mentioned. It is the wild Wild West.

Obviously, you have never done a loan for a manufactured house. Because you are telling me I can buy a manufactured house tell them it is secured to the land they will take my word, no inspection required. Try getting a loan on the manufactured house without an engineering foundation inspection.

No way. Sorry, but I just don’t believe you.
 
Last edited:
Washington State;
(26) "Qualified inspector" means a United States department of housing and urban development certified inspector; a Washington state licensed home inspector; an American society of home inspectors certified inspector; a private inspector certified by the national association of housing and redevelopment officials, the American association of code enforcement, or other comparable professional association as approved by the local municipality; a municipal code enforcement officer; a Washington licensed structural engineer; or a Washington licensed architect.

Always check the State Code, which trickles down to the municipality, but it would appear they fall under HUD/FHA compliance. We have so-called tiny homes here along the shoreline with wide ranging values, depending on the town. The new lingo "Tiny Home" in my area has actually been around since the early 1900's, land sizes 5000SF to +acreage, which depends on where they are located.
Good Luck
 
great answers, so the choice is to do it at the right fee, and research time, so that you make the minimal amount of mistakes for the state not to hang you with. it's good for a learning experience and you value guess is much more better than a normal person's guess.
many of use have tried that once in a while. sometimes i learned a lot, and other times i was sorry i did it. understand the fee needs to cover all your research & lender aggravation to come.
 
You can't fit a square peg in a round hole. Because they are still unusual in my area most of the form appraisers will not accept the assignment because of the time and effort required. They would rather turn and burn. I have done three tiny (<600 SF) houses, all on multiple acres, in the last couple of months.

I found the cost approach to be my friend, and this is one that will need to have a very strong cost report opinion of value. Sounds like you can nail down the land value fairly easily. Now look at the cost of construction for the size and type of dwelling located on the property. One big question are the solar panels and are they real or personal property. Myself I would include their cost in the report, but then discount them based on acceptance. You can probably obtain that figure from other sales of grid-based properties vs solar homes, whihc are similar in size. Then also consider the cost of an onsite LP fired generator, which depending on the area may be more reliable than solar and the cost of acquisition and installation may be less. True that solar is "free" energy, but it would be interesting to amortize the cost difference (including operations and maintenance) between the two over their expected life span to get a feel for the true cost/savings. Additionally, you should consider the cost to provide grid-based service to the subject property. While expensive it just might increase the property value enough to make it worthwhile, especially if the current or a future owner may want to increase the living space or add additional structures which may require more power than solar can provide.

As to being a tiny home, which sounds like it was built off site and dragged on to some sort of foundation. You didn't create the problem you are just trying to value it. Like all comparable searches look for other dwellings that are as similar as possible and then work on match pairs in an effort to come up with adjustment factors. When it comes to the difference in construction you can go back to the cost approach. Many times, in commercial work when comparables are few and far between we end up comparing block, to pole, to steel frame construction. We do the best we can to make market-based adjustments, but sometimes you just have to say the adjustment is something like 50% of the cost difference to construct new.

Gather as much information as you can, explain the situation and the efforts you have gone to, explain in your report all of the steps used to arrive at your various adjustments and values and write a good summation. I have always worked under the premise that if the client or reader of the report agrees with the steps I have taken, and the methodology used, they have to agree with my conclusion.

Nothing is impossible, it just takes a little longer sometimes.
 
So what your saying where you live there is no zoning, building codes, property tax, or any restrictions of any kind except for the ones you mentioned. It is the wild Wild West.

Obviously, you have never done a loan for a manufactured house. Because you are telling me I can buy a manufactured house tell them it is secured to the land they will take my word, no inspection required. Try getting a loan on the manufactured house without an engineering foundation inspection.

No way. Sorry, but I just don’t believe you.
Every state may be different. I have done dozens of MH's in 3 different states, and never once needed an engineer's report. Never one stip.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Find a Real Estate Appraiser - Enter Zip Code

Copyright © 2000-, AppraisersForum.com, All Rights Reserved
AppraisersForum.com is proudly hosted by the folks at
AppraiserSites.com
Back
Top