Appraisers need to be from our local area's like Ann Arbor and not S.E. Michigan. They don't know the area, the school districts or how we handle square footage. The problem is exacerbated with the Data Sharing.
Appraisers need to use the MLS that the listing originates from.
Why?
Data Sharing...is when the data from one MLS goes into the feed to another MLS. Not everyone uses the same fields so not all the data is transferred the same.
In the Ann Arbor Area MLS we have a field for Square Feet, (ok everyone does) but....here is how it is different from the Realcomp board and the problems it can cause.
Realcomp uses Square feet like this:
Upper______
Main_______
Basement_____
Total Finished Square Feet________
Ann Arbor only does this:
Square feet___________ Source____________
Now in the source field we can put: "Per owner, per assessor, per appraisal." However many agents in the Ann Arbor Area add the basement square footage in to make the home seem bigger. So they will say: S. F. 3000 Source Inc 1200 in LL
The square feet is really 1800 square feet NOT the 3000.
Now all of us in Ann Arbor, both Realtors and Appraisers can add and subtract so it is not a huge problem. However, if an appraiser is located out in the Realcomp MLS area, then the data imported only comes in at 3000.
NOT GOOD.
I found out last night one of my homes did not appraise. The buyer agent called me and I quickly went to our MLS to refresh myself on the comps that the appraiser would have used. No problem...there are 5 of them.
I wait and the buyer agent sends me over the Appraisal and I go through it to see if I can see how she came up with this house not appraising.
OH NO, SHE USED THE BASEMENT SQUARE FOOTAGE AND GAVE IT THE SAME VALUE AS THE UPPER AND MAIN LEVELS.
After I had gone through it and the buyer agent went through it, we met at his office and compared notes. He found the same errors that I did.
If an appraiser had used our Ann Arbor Area MLS, they would have known this included the finished basements.
We will get it worked out, but this should not have happened.
A local appraiser using our MLS would have seen the TRUE SQUARE FOOTAGE.
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Missy Caulk & Team can be reached at 734-216-2822 or email: Missy@MissyCaulk.com
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Missy Caulk & Team can be reached at 734-926-9797 or email: Missy@MissyCaulk.com
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