appraisal methodology

How much value does a huge backyard shop add?

February 23, 2017 By Ryan Lundquist 20 Comments

A friend asked me a great question this week. How much value does that huge shop in the backyard add? He wasn’t sure how to pull comps, so I scratched out a few thoughts. Anything to add?

large workshop or garage value - sacramento appraisal blog

1) The market: Can buyers use whatever the structure is? Will they pay for it? These are good questions to ask. At times home owners build things that are so specific to their own needs that the market really might not even want it (or maybe buyers will simply use it for something else). I think of Michael Jackson’s Ferris Wheel at Neverland Ranch or a $125,000 recording studio in the backyard of an area of Sacramento where values are about $225,000. There might be one buyer out there willing to pay a premium, but does that one buyer really represent the market? Remember, lenders are going to lend based on the market.

2) Find something similar: The best way to uncover value for a large workshop is to find a few examples that have sold. Keep in mind we might not find something exactly the same, but we have to do our best to find something we might think of as competitive. In a rural market there are likely many examples, but in a residential market we might have to pour through years worth of sales to find a large workshop, detached garage, or some other competitive structure. We can then compare these sales to others in the neighborhood at the time. How much of a price premium was there if any? For example, I did a search in the Tahoe Park neighborhood and found some large detached structures by looking in MLS under Garage (I selected 3 and 4 detached), # of Garage Spaces (I selected more than 3 spaces to see what structures I could find), and Other Structures (you can select things like “Workshop Building” or “Outbuilding” under this category). It can be tedious to search in MLS, but sometimes it’s surprising how quickly something will come up.

3) Cost: Let’s consider the cost of the structure so we are in tune with quality. This doesn’t mean the market is going to pay more just because it was expensive, but the market will likely recognize quality and pay more for something that is nice (and usable). Home owners often want the market to pay the full cost of whatever was built, but there’s a fat chance of that happening because when people buy something used they tend to expect a discount.

4) Make Something Up: I’m kidding on this one, but I will say at times in real estate we have to use professional judgement when data is extremely limited. This sounds so wishy washy, but there is something to knowing a market and coming up with a range for what we think a group of buyers might realistically pay. In this case we might not give a specific value adjustment for the structure, but we can always consider the value of it in our final number. What I mean is we might see a range of value in a neighborhood for similar properties and end up reconciling the final appraised value for the subject property toward the higher end of the range because the subject has more assets. Be careful on this point though (and don’t spend two minutes on research and simply go straight to #4).

Questions: What is #5? Did I miss anything? How would you figure out the value? I’d love to hear your take.

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Three dangerous ways to choose comps

January 17, 2017 By Ryan Lundquist 21 Comments

It’s easy to get into value trouble when choosing comps, and today I want to highlight three ways to do that. I’ve observed each of these methods very recently, which is why I hoped to kick around some ideas together. I could have just as well entitled this post, “Three ways appraisers DON’T choose comps.” Any thoughts?

choosing comps for appraisal - sacramento appraisal blog

Three dangerous ways to choose comps:

1) Price: When putting a value on something, searching by price is a quick way to NOT see the full picture. For instance, if we pull comps for a $750,000 sale by looking at all sales between $725,000 and $775,000, what we end up getting is a limited view of one price range. Have we truly found any similar properties or just the ones that have sold in that range and happen to support the contract price? The danger of searching by price is we can end up letting a few high sales impose a value on a property instead of letting similar homes paint a picture of value. This is why sometimes appraisers disregard the “comps” they are given from the real estate community because they are only similar in price rather than square footage, age, condition, location, upgrades, etc… If you are in the habit of searching by price in MLS when pulling comps, I might recommend searching by square footage instead (or by a parameter you think will help you make quality comparisons).

2) Capitalization Rates: The 2-4 unit market has been heating up in the Sacramento area. In fact, the new Yardi Matrix 2017 Winter Report says multi-family rents in Sacramento will grow by 9.6% this year. If that’s how things shake out, we’ll basically have seen a 30% increase in rent over the past few years. Wow!! Anyway, I’m finding news of the hot rental market is causing some 2-4 unit properties to be priced according to unrealistic cap rates instead of realistic comps and rental income (or even realistic cap rates). What I mean is sometimes comments in MLS say “check out the 8% cap rate” when the neighborhood really isn’t getting rates that low. Maybe surrounding properties are showing rates closer to 9-10%. This might not seem like a big deal, but when we plug an 8% rate into the cap rate formula instead of a realistic 9-10% rate, the value can be substantially different. My advice is to be cautious about imposing a cap rate on a property.

3) Price Per Sq Ft: In real estate it’s easy to see a sale down the street and then apply the price per sq ft from the sale to the subject property. But what if the price per sq ft doesn’t make any sense for the subject? The truth is smaller homes tend to have a much higher price per sq ft than larger ones, and dissimilar homes might actually have a far different price per sq ft too. Thus my advice is to be cautious about imposing a certain price per sq ft on a property when searching for comps. Let’s pay attention to price per sq ft figures, but at some point we have to ask the question, what are similar properties actually selling for? By the way, if you haven’t seen my Starbucks cups analogy, it’s a fun way to think about price per sq ft.

The Big Idea of Imposing: All of these methodologies essentially help impose a value on a property because we end up applying a metric or price range to comp selection instead of looking for what is truly similar. Thankfully there isn’t only one way to search for comps, but no matter what we do it’s important to try to be objective and discover value rather than doing something that might impose value on a property. Know what I’m saying? By the way, here is how I tend to choose comps as an appraiser just in case you’re peeved I only told you what not to do.

Blogging Class on Thursday: In a couple of days I’m teaching a two-hour class at SAR called Successful Real Estate Blogging. This will be incredibly practical and my goal is for you to leave with insight on how to be effective. Click HERE for details.

I hope that was helpful or interesting.

Questions: Did I miss anything? Anything you’d add? I’d love to hear your take.

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Excess and surplus land (and why the difference matters)

November 1, 2016 By Ryan Lundquist 11 Comments

Is it excess or surplus land? And why does it even matter? Let’s talk about that today while looking at a real life example of a lot that is currently being divided.

Excess Land: This is when the lot is larger in size and the extra land (or excess) can be sold separately from the existing lot. In other words, a portion of the lot can be broken off from the rest, sold separately, and have a different highest and best use from the rest of the lot.

excess-land-sacramento-appraisal-blog

Surplus Land: This is when the lot is larger in size and the extra land (or surplus) cannot be sold off separately. This means the “surplus” doesn’t have a separate highest and best use. The larger size is simply extra land that still might have some value, but it can’t be used for a separate purpose from the rest of the lot.

surplus-land-sacramento-appraisal-blog

Why does this matter?

1) Real Estate Jeopardy: Next time you’re on Jeopardy you’re going to sound like an expert when the category is land.

2) Assuming Value: It’s easy to assume a larger lot is always more valuable, but we have to ask if we’re dealing with surplus or excess land because it could make a difference in the value. At times we see a large lot size and get distracted like we’ve seen a bright shiny object. But can the land be divided? What can it be used for? Does the parcel shape help the lot be useful for buyers? And what have comps with larger lot sizes actually sold for too?

3) The Bottom Line: Here’s the big deal. A larger lot that can be divided might be worth far more than a larger lot that cannot be divided (thanks Captain Obvious). For instance, the lot in the example above is located in the Curtis Park neighborhood and the extra space in the backyard is considered excess land because it CAN be divided and have a separate highest and best use. This backyard is currently being split by Keith Klassen in order to build two new homes. Anyway, this reminds us how important it is to talk with the local planning department to see what possibilities exist for extra space on a lot. We might see something big and assume it can be divided, but can it really? What does zoning allow? Moreover, is it realistic for the property to be divided right now? Remember, just because a lot can be divided doesn’t necessarily mean its going to happen in the current market. For instance, imagine values are tanking and new construction has stopped in the area. In a market like that any excess land might not command much of a value premium. But in a market where values are up and construction is happening, there is a higher probability of the lot being worth far more because it might be split.

keith-klassen-new-construction-in-curtis-park-sacramento

I hope this was helpful. There are many other things we could discuss here, so let’s kick around some ideas in the comments.

Questions: Anything else to add? Any stories to share? Did I miss something? I’d love to hear your take.

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4 reasons why appraisers take interior photos

September 8, 2015 By Ryan Lundquist 15 Comments

Why do appraisers take interior photos? What do they do with the photos? Are they required? An upset home owner recently grilled me on this issue after talking with his spouse about me taking photos at the property. Of course I asked to snap images of each room during the inspection, I was given permission, and I was nothing but professional, but it still ended up being an issue that had to be smoothed out with some explanation. Thus I figured it would be helpful to explain why appraisers take photos, and include some tips for agents, owners, and appraisers too. I hope this is helpful. Anything you’d add?

appraisers take interior photos - by sacramento appraisal blog - image purchased and used with permission from 123rf dot com

Four Reasons Why Appraisers Take Photos:

Client Requirement: The truth is some clients require interior photos. In fact, lender clients usually require at least one photo of EVERY single room. It’s not uncommon for some lender clients to even require photos of smoke detectors, water heaters, and carbon monoxide detectors. I once had a lender client that wanted photos of all ceilings (I’m guessing they wanted to be sure there were no stains or spots because they probably had some bad experiences in the past). On the other side of the coin, interior photos might not be required at all by a client for a private appraisal (though the appraiser might need them. See #2, #3, and #4).
Remember the House: When an appraiser takes photos, it’s helpful to have these photos when going back to the office. The photos can of course help the appraiser when choosing comps and making adjustments, but they can also help the appraiser remember what the house was like. For instance, there have been times when I labeled the bathroom floor as vinyl during my inspection, but the photos clearly showed the floor was tile. Or maybe my sketch showed only four bedrooms, but there were actually five based on my photos. Everyone makes mistakes, and that includes appraisers. Thus at times the photos can serve as a back-up to the appraiser’s memory.
Documentation: If an appraiser is called into court to take the stand to talk about the condition of a property at the time of the inspection, photos can be a tremendous tool to assist the appraiser’s description. In fact, a few months ago some of my photos were shared in court while I talked through the house with the judge and jury.
Reporting: Appraisers use photos in appraisal reports to help tell the story of the house to the client. Photos can highlight condition, layout, quality, recent updates, etc…, so they are an important part of the appraisal process. As they say, a picture can be worth a thousand words, so an appraiser can help a client see the house by including a dozen or so photos of the house in the report.

Realtor Tips:

Let your client know the appraiser will be taking photos.
Be sure the appraiser is going to have access to each room (including the garage), and that your client knows each room will be photographed.

Owner Tips:

If you are doing a refinance, expect the appraiser to take photos. If you do not want interior photos because you feel it is an invasion of privacy, be sure to tell the lender before the appraiser comes so you are sure the lender will do the loan without interior photos. In today’s strict lending environment, I’m guessing the lender is going to require interior photos no matter what. If you’ve hired an appraiser for a private assignment, and you feel uncomfortable about interior photos, the appraiser might be okay with not taking photos (just ask).
If you feel concerned about photos, talk with the appraiser before the inspection begins. The appraiser will likely let you know why photos are taken and how they will be used. While I don’t advocate hovering over the appraiser during the inspection, if you do feel really concerned, you can walk behind the appraiser to keep an eye on how photos are taken. It’s your house.
Appraisers are bound to client confidentiality, so appraisal reports with photos are not made public or posted online by the appraiser.
If you have personal property you do not want photographed, you may want to conceal or remove whatever that is before the inspection (if possible).
Expect the appraiser is going to want to see every room, and if an appraiser is not allowed to inspect and photograph certain rooms, a lender client may want the appraiser to do a second inspection at some point to take photos (this will cost you more money unfortunately).
If you are concerned about sensitive clothing articles being photographed, just make sure there are no sensitive items within view. Appraisers should not be opening dresser drawers.

Appraiser Tips:

Ask before you take photos. I tend to say, “I’ll need to take at least one photo of each room. Is that okay?” This way I have permission. I know this is basic, but after a concerned owner questioned me recently about photos, I am definitely in tune with how important it is to ask this question.
Be careful to not have any people or photos of people in the photos where possible. This is often what owners and tenants are most concerned about. Obviously lenders want photos, but if something looks too personal for a non-lender assignment, I simply take good notes and don’t photograph that room. I once inspected a house where the owners had poster-sized risqué photos of themselves. That’s fine if that’s what works for them, but I definitely made sure my camera didn’t snap any of those poses.
Be cautious about including guns, art work, or safes in photos as owners can be sensitive about those items.
Be careful about photos in a home office as it can be easy to include private information.

I hope this was helpful. Thank you for reading.

Investor Interview: By the way, I had an hour-long conversation recently with an investor named Janice Bell. She does a weekly interview, and I was her target a few weeks back. You can listen in the background below (or watch here).

Questions: Any thoughts? Did I miss anything? I’d love to hear your take as an owner, agent, appraiser, or tenant.

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appraisal methodology