VA Multifamily

[BWMNAPP]

I completed a VA appraisal on a 1025 for a duplex last week. Unit 1 has finished rooms on the 1st floor and basement. Unit 2 has finished rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor. I counted all finished area as GBA. The lender has asked me to revise the report, separating GLA from below grade finished area. I do 1025s regularly, but rarely for the VA. For multifamily homes I have always included finished basements in the GBA. I can't find this particular topic in the VA Lenders Handbook. Is this reviewer wrong about this, or am I?

 

[glenn walker]

Ask the lenders SAR or Reviewer to help you cite the sourse, because you don't agree or can't locate it. Or contact your RLC and ask them.

 

[sputnam]

Seems to be a very simple request. Just add one sentence to the report.... or more if you want to. "The finiished area below grade is zzz square feet."

 

[Zoe]

Ask the lenders SAR or Reviewer to help you cite the sourse, because you don't agree or can't locate it. Or contact your RLC and ask them.

Yeah. Not all underwriters that work for a lender are a SAR. Some SARs work directly for VA and the lender has to send the report to VA to be underwritten by a SAR. The SAR is the one that counts. Some big lenders have their own SAR employee. That is fine too. The SAR is who issues the NOV.

If it is SAR that said do it. Better be doing it.

 

[Jerry Bone Jr]

I completed a VA appraisal on a 1025 for a duplex last week. Unit 1 has finished rooms on the 1st floor and basement. Unit 2 has finished rooms on the 2nd and 3rd floor. I counted all finished area as GBA. The lender has asked me to revise the report, separating GLA from below grade finished area. I do 1025s regularly, but rarely for the VA. For multifamily homes I have always included finished basements in the GBA. I can't find this particular topic in the VA Lenders Handbook. Is this reviewer wrong about this, or am I?

 

[Zoe]

View attachment 100134

Is that fannie or VA. I haven't looked at VA lenders handbood on it for a while. I don't know if that is out of VA lenders handbook for FNMA guidelines. Doesn't matter if the SAR told the appraiser it was needed before they would issue NOV. Then the appraiser has no choice.

We have some real old duplexes in downtown Memphis it would probably resemble. We don't have many duplexes designed like that in the area I work. I would just do whatever the SAR said do.

Evidently the SAR has no issue with the value. So it is easy fix for this SAR. Just change it and keep your value the same. It will change your % adjustments but so what if you don't change your value opinion.

 

[Zoe]

Actually I can only find one even similar in my files. It was very old single family that was converted to duplex later with one unit upstairs and one downstairs. It had basement under 1st floor but it was unfinished.

 

[TerryRohrer]

You have it right. I would agree with the suggestion to ask the SAR for the source that is the basis of their request. The 1025 is based on GBA and GLA has no place in the report. The most I would do is add a note that the GLA is zzz ft². I would not change the grid or analysis and would state that to do so would be misleading and would cause confusion for readers who understand the form and the property type.

 

[Zoe]

You have it right. I would agree with the suggestion to ask the SAR for the source that is the basis of their request. The 1025 is based on GBA and GLA has no place in the report. The most I would do is add a note that the GLA is zzz ft². I would not change the grid or analysis and would state that to do so would be misleading and would cause confusion for readers who understand the form and the property type.

Not a hill I would die on if SAR said do it. I could shift it to GBA below level or above level. I would make same adjustments maybe. Our ground composition locally is not conducive locally for basements. @Terrel L. Shields is a geologist. He has already stated some ground is just not suitable for basements without over and above construction techniques.

I am pretty much same way on GLA. I can likely only make adjustment on difference on GLA or GBA above or below ground level. If I smell anything funny or anybody clues me on on possible foundation leaks below grade, we have a problem. I know a person dearly that bought a real expensive house and had to spend thousands to fix the leakage issue below grade near me. They had to dig down all the way below the foundation and lay all kinds of things like a french drain. They fixed it with lifetime guarantee, but it was very expensive. Like maybe $20K. The Mississippi Delta ground overall is built for farming. It is not built for basements. If an expert does the basement, it can work.

 

[Zoe]

I would not lie to you. The Mississippi River Delta farmland has some if not the richest farmland in the world. That means it can produce as much or more crops per acre than anywhere in the world. It is as flat as the eyes can see in many areas. That big farm equipment can roll. The only thing that can slow it down is weather. Disease on crops could hurt it, but they probably are as productive as any farmland in world because of the soil and flat land. It is called the Mississippi River bottoms. Very expensive farmland.