You may not need an appraisal

A homeowner contacted me recently asking me to perform an appraisal on a property. I asked what was the purpose of the appraisal and was told it was to get accurate square footage for listing the home on MLS. I explained that if all that was needed was an accurate measurement of the property, I could sketch the property to ANSI standards which is now required for any federally related mortgage transaction. The homeowner explained that the CAD (Central Appraisal District) had improperly reported the square footage of the home due to not including the square footage above the garage. I asked if the area above the garage was contiguous and the owner stated the garage was attached to the home so yes it was. With a little more discussion, I discovered that a person would have to enter the garage and then ascend a staircase to the area above the garage. According to ANSI this area therefore would not be counted as square footage on the Gross Living Area line of the report. I explained to the owner that if this was typical in the market area the appraiser may count this as square footage but would need to put it on a separate line in the appraisal report. I would caution anyone listing a home with areas such as this to not list this area on the MLS square footage column. You do want to describe this area on any advertising material for your property including the approximate square footage and amenities included. As an appraiser, I see this a few times a year. Someone will list a property including the square footage from a non-contiguous area and it will have negative effects on the appraised value. Realtors do their best to estimate the approximate value of a home utilizing several tools and then determine a proper list price for a property based on the current market influences. If a Realtor utilized the incorrect square footage of the home, it could very well not be worth the negotiated sale price. Be careful out there and when in doubt call an appraiser and ask if they perform measurement services to list a home for sale. It’s better to know what you are dealing with before you get to the last step in the process and discover you have a problem.