In 2011 the Appraisal Institute released one work-around to address three major sticking points that have made it difficult to appraise high-performance or “green” homes.
The first problem has been that the most important features of these homes are often invisible during a typical appraisal — either packed into the attic or programmed into appliances and other systems. The second problem has been that the standard Form 1004 includes one small box for “energy efficiency features” which is far too small to capture any important points about either the subject property or the comparables. Finally, while the appraisal industry has been providing a growing number of courses and certifications for appraisers working with high-performance homes, there has been no simple way to match these competent appraisers to assignments for high-performance homes.
That all changed 18 months ago when the Appraisal Institute introduced the Residential Green & Energy Efficiency Addendum. Things got better once again with their release of v 2.0 of the Addendum last week.
The first version of the tool has been extremely well-received; it has worked magic to simplify how information is presented to or gathered by an appraiser, serving as a means to verify opinions of value for High Performance Homes and helping to identify competency requirements. Version 2.0 is very consistent with the first release, simply clarifying some field names and some organization tweaks that make it easier to use. Perhaps the biggest change for the appraiser is that it spells out an answer to the question: Who should complete this addendum?
The answer is clearly this: whoever has the most first-hand knowledge with the performance and features of this home. Continue reading »
In the world of residential valuation, a green-built, energy-efficient, or high-performance new home or retrofit is essentially invisible to the consumer if the MLS doesn’t support green fields (i.e., fields in the MLS data form that enable the listing agent to define the green features). Without green fields, if a potential buyer is interested in a home that’s resource efficient or has superior indoor air quality, for example, brokers searching the MLS on their behalf can’t identify this property type. Likewise, an appraiser undertaking a green home assignment isn’t able to identify comparables, isolate possible premiums being paid by consumers for green features, or identify local market information such as market share, days on market, and price per square foot.
As market awareness of and demand for green homes grows, what is an MLS’s responsibility to its members to provide green fields—and what liability issues should be of concern? According to studies by the Institute for Market Transformation, a nonprofit organization that promotes energy efficiency, energy benchmarking of commercial properties has revealed a simple truth: When information is disclosed to the market, the market has the opportunity to react to that information. Market reaction can be reward or punishment—that’s the nature of a free market. But either way the consumer benefits from the competition as a result of disclosure. The ability then to identify market reaction lies at the heart of both real estate investments and valuation.
