Combining two adjacent lots creates a site worth more than the pair separately. The increment is called:
Correct Answer
B) Plottage value from assemblage
The supported value increment over the sum of separate parcel values is plottage. Assemblage is the combining process and can occur with no increment. Surplus productivity is an income-residual principle, while progression concerns favorable surrounding-property influence.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option B is correct because plottage is an increment of value that results when two or more sites are assembled under single ownership, producing greater utility. The combined site is worth more than the two lots separately, and that extra amount is plottage value. Assemblage is the combining process, which can occur with or without such an increment.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Progression from proximity
Option A, progression from proximity, refers to a lesser property gaining value from nearby better properties; it does not describe the value created by combining two lots.
Option C: Surplus productivity of land
Option C, surplus productivity of land, is an income-residual principle about income left for land after other agents of production are paid, not the increment from combining parcels.
Option D: Marginal utility of scale
Option D, marginal utility of scale, is not the appraisal term for the extra value created by assembling adjacent lots; that increment is plottage.
Assemble the plots, gain plottage
Assemblage is putting plots together; plottage is the extra value that combined plot may have.
How to use: Use this to separate the act of combining from the value increment it may create.
Exam Tip
If the question asks for the extra value, choose plottage; if it asks for the act of combining, choose assemblage.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Using assemblage and plottage as the same thing
- -Assuming every assemblage creates plottage
- -Confusing plottage with progression
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests the difference between assemblage and plottage. Assemblage is the act of combining parcels; plottage is the increment of value when the combined site is worth more than the sum of the separate parcels. The question asks for the name of the increment.
Background Knowledge
Plottage occurs when combining parcels allows a more productive use than the separate parcels could support. Not every assemblage creates plottage; the increment must be supported by market evidence. Appraisers distinguish the process (assemblage) from the result (plottage value).
Real-World Application
A builder buys two adjacent lots that are each too narrow for a typical house under the setback rules. Combined, they can support a larger home, and the appraiser finds market support that the assembled site is worth more than the two lots valued separately.
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