Which set contains useful examples of comparison units for vacant land when relevant to competitive-market pricing?
Correct Answer
C) Front foot, square foot, acre, site and allowable dwelling unit
Area, frontage, finished-site count and permitted development capacity can provide useful units when supported by competitive-market behavior. They are examples, not an exhaustive mandatory national list. Choose and reconcile units appropriate to the actual property and data.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option C is correct because price per front foot, per square foot, per acre, per site and per allowable dwelling unit are recognized vacant land units of comparison. They reflect how land is priced by frontage, area, finished lot count or permitted development density. These are useful examples rather than a mandatory list, and the appraiser chooses units that match competitive-market behavior.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Bedroom count, bathroom count and interior finish rating
Option A lists bedroom count, bathroom count and interior finish rating, which describe a building's interior. Vacant land has no rooms or finishes, so these are not land units of comparison.
Option B: Building age, roof condition and heating-system count
Option B lists building age, roof condition and heating-system count, which describe improvements and their condition. These do not measure vacant land and cannot serve as land units of comparison.
Option D: Accounting depreciation year, owner tenure and historical tax rate
Option D lists accounting depreciation year, owner tenure and historical tax rate, which reflect bookkeeping, ownership history and past taxation. Market participants do not price vacant land by these items, so they are not useful units of comparison.
Land Units Measure Dirt
If the unit describes the ground itself or what can legally be built on it, it fits vacant land. If it describes rooms, systems or paperwork, it does not.
How to use: Use this filter to eliminate building-based or accounting-based choices in vacant land questions.
Exam Tip
For vacant land, look for frontage, area, site count or density-based units. Treat any choice describing a structure's features as a distractor.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Using building characteristics to compare vacant land sales
- -Applying one unit of comparison without checking how the local market prices land
- -Treating a listed set of units as the only units that can ever be used
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests recognition of units of comparison suited to vacant land. Vacant land has no building, so units based on rooms, building condition or mechanical systems do not apply. Land units measure size, frontage, finished sites or development capacity, and the appraiser selects the ones buyers in the market actually use.
Background Knowledge
Units of comparison allow sales of different sizes to be compared on a common basis. Common vacant land units include price per front foot, per square foot, per acre, per building site and per unit buildable. The appropriate unit depends on property type, location and how buyers in that market analyze prices.
Real-World Application
An appraiser values a vacant lot zoned for up to four dwelling units. Local builders price such land by the number of units zoning allows, so the appraiser analyzes comparable sales on a price-per-allowable-unit basis and cross-checks with price per square foot.
More Land/Site Questions
How should an appraiser account for a site's access to public sewer compared with competing sites that require septic systems?
Which fact, if supported by competitive-market evidence, most directly supports a unit-price premium for an otherwise comparable site?
A rectangular site's frontage is doubled while its depth is halved, keeping area constant. What is the likely value effect in a retail district?
A downtown site's zoning height limit is reduced from six stories to three. Buyers in this market had been paying for six-story development potential. What effect on land value is most supportable?
A zoning change increases permitted density from four to eight units per acre. What is the likely effect on site value?
Using the allocation method, market evidence supports a typical land-to-total-property-value ratio of 28% for similar improved properties in the subject’s location. An improved comparable sold for $825,000. What land (site) contribution is indicated by applying that ratio?
An appraiser is valuing a vacant site near a landfill. A similar vacant site that is not affected by the landfill sold for $480,000. Paired land sales indicate that proximity to the landfill lowers site prices by $70,000. No other adjustments apply. What is the indicated value of the subject site?
An appraiser is extracting site value from a $600,000 cash sale. The seller's records show an original construction cost of $250,000 and a depreciated book value of $110,000. The appraiser estimates current replacement cost new at $400,000 and accrued depreciation from all causes at $100,000. What is the indicated site value?
Three parcels assembled under single ownership (standard appraisal guidance assemblage) support separate as-is values of $290,000, $340,000, and $250,000. After assemblage for a higher-utility use, the combined site is valued at $1,050,000. Assemblage costs (demolition, legal, holding, and related) total $55,000. What is the indicated net plottage (plottage increment after assemblage costs)?
A comparable commercial site with 65 front feet sold for a cash-equivalent price of $585,000. Per standard appraisal guidance, sale price per front foot is a vacant-land unit of comparison when frontage is a primary value determinant. The subject site has 72 front feet and is otherwise similar. What indicated land value does the front-foot unit support before other adjustments?
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Previous Question
An appraiser is valuing a vacant site exposed to highway traffic noise. A comparable vacant site that is not exposed to the noise or close to the highway sold for $435,000. Paired land sales indicate a $58,000 discount for traffic noise and highway proximity. No other adjustments apply. What land value is indicated for the subject?
Next Question
Two comparable sites differ only in that one has all utilities to the lot line. How should this be handled?