http://www.realestateappraisertips.info/ - Dave Towne: Survey Results On How Appraisers Report Site Size, New FNMA Requirements on 9/1/2011. Washington State Appraiser and Educator prepares appraisers for the upcoming new Fannie Mae requirements for proper reporting of site sizes. Dave asked me to help spread the word about this move.
"Appraisers……
Over the weekend, I asked for your input as to how you report Site Size in the Fannie Form grid. This graph represents the results of your responses through Monday night 2/7/11, from appraisers in many parts of the US:
I asked this question because effective 9/01/2011, Fannie/Freddie will require Site Size for any site less than ONE ACRE to be reported as Square Feet, NOT Acres (or portion) ….. and any site of 1 Acre or more to be reported as Acres! This is for any conventional loan sold to them, reported on the 1004 and 2055 Forms.
UNLESS appraisers around the nation climb on Fannie’s back and explain how crazy this will be, and ask (politely) that this new poor requirement be modified so that site sizes are reported in a consistent manner in the report.
EXAMPLE: Subject is in a small urban area, on a .82 Acre site. Three Comps are a mix of site sizes, less than an acre and more than an acre…say up to 1.5 acres….because that’s all the sales found that are even remotely comparable in terms of GLA/Age of the properties. (This is a REAL situation in my area.)
So your grid will look like this:
Subj. Comp 1 Comp 2 Comp 3
35719 sf 20038 sf 1.1 ac 1.5 ac
(.82 Acre) (.46 Acre)
[No commas can be used, and only ‘sf’ can indicate Sq. Ft.]
[Acre must be reported as ‘ac’ – with nothing following that]
Can you imagine the U/W’s head scratching! You’re going to have to include an entire paragraph to explain this requirement, and then explain how you arrived at the site size adjustments (which you should do anyway, but now you will have to explain how you converted to Ac or SF before making the site adjustment).
Most county assessor records in our area, and other parts of the US report Site Size in terms of Acres – or a decimal portion thereof. Therefore, you will have to convert that Acre number to a Square Foot number for the report, further slowing down report writing. (I developed a Conversion Table which I will give to any appraiser for FREE who wants it … just e-mail me.)
FURTHER EXPLANATION: “Both” is represented in nearly 15% of responses. Some Appraisers told me they use an entry like .82 Ac/35,719 sf in the grid. Other appraisers said they currently use Square Foot for any property less than an acre, and Acres for 1+ acres (I don’t understand why!). And some appraisers said they use SF for FHA reports, believing that SF is ‘required’ by HUD/FHA – in fact they accept either per the 4150.2 manual but expect consistency in the report …. and use Acres for conventional reports.
Those appraisers who explained “Both” also stated they NEVER mix Acres with Square Foot in reports as my example shows ……… as Fannie will require as of 9/1/2011!
MY PERSONAL BELIEF: All reports should use Acre (or decimal portion), regardless of site size. MLS listings are reported that way, assessor records are that way, property owners think and talk in terms of ACRES …. not “my property is 32,670 s/f.” It’s much easier to say “3/4 of an acre.” It’s also what a majority of appraisers are doing now – overwhelmingly.
Thanks for your responses!
Dave Towne, Towne Appraisals
Mount Vernon, WA
360-708-1196
and
Appraiser Education Service"
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