Unfinished Detached Garage

[Tucson Appraisals]

Hi all! Working on an appraisal where the home has an enclosed attached garage (the insides of this enclosure has no flooring other than concrete and the drywall is not finished) and has a detached garage that is on the other side of the lot opposite of the home on a 2.2 acre parcel. This detached garage is under construction and has no roof and one would have to walk quite a distance up and down a hill to get to it.

To me the walk to and from the garage is a functional problem. Prominently, the neighborhood has garages and carports closer in proximity to the home for easy access. Even though this is not on the inside of a home, would I still call this functional obs?

It also has no roof and could not be used to store cars to protect them against the elements. To me, this is also a functional problem. I am still analyzing and thinking about this problem, any help with terminology would be appreciated.

Value: Obviously, I can not find comps with a detached garage, down the hill with no roof. Therefore it is difficult to support a market reaction for this type of thing and hardly enough supporting evidence to make an adjustment. Comments on this would also be appreciated.

 

[Tucson Appraisals]

Nevermind, the more I analyzed the other appraisal problems not mentioned above, the more I realized just how much of a lack of data I have to give a credible opinion. I turned down the assignment.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Must be pretty busy to be able to turn down something that easy.

So there is a partially finished garage on site. Chances are that in the next 10 to 15 years you might find one that would work as a comp. So what do you do? You use your best efforts based on your knowledge of the market to estimate what the market would give for this unfinished garage. Work some cost numbers and just think about it. You will soon see an estimate that is reasonable. Use it and tell the reader exactly what you did; that the adjustment for the unfinished detached garage was the appraisers best estimate due to the lack of any known similar relevant sales.

Not a big deal. Of course that's coming from an appraiser where every little boy wants three things when he grows up: a 4 x 4 pick-up, a good deer rifle and a pole building to put his big toys in.