[Greenbuilding] Appraisers for true green home value

[Benjamin Pratt]

I've looked into this a fair amount--but only on existing construction
in the United States.
In the US, the only things that make a difference are square footage,
number of baths and bedrooms, and location (general geographical area)
and tax assessed value (the latter being the most important. Curb
appeal, the neighbors on either side of you, amount of light, building
materials, etc, make no difference.

Since the banking crisis, to reduce fraud and artificially inflating
values, there are a lot of restrictions on what appraisers can and can
not do. You, and the mortgage broker, can not request a specific
appraiser, nor can you get them to look past the obvious. They order
an appraisal and (somewhat randomly) and appraiser is provided.

The only way to get a higher appraisal that I know of is to call their
municipality and tell them you think the tax assessment is too low. If
they agree, they can increase the assessed value, but then you taxes
would be higher.

Makes it really hard to get a new mortgage or a home improvement loan
for a place you know is worth more than any comparable they will find
in the immediate area. In fact, several mortgage brokers I've spoken
to said that since the bailouts, they had not seen one appraisal come
in at higher than the tax assessed value.

Ben




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b e n j a m i n p r a t t

professor art+design
the university of wisconsin stout