A California appraiser is valuing a 30-unit apartment building where 20 units are subject to San Francisco's rent control (rent board jurisdiction) and 10 units are exempt under the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act because they were built after 1979. The appraiser must apply the income approach. Which approach would produce the MOST accurate valuation?
Correct Answer
B) Value the rent-controlled and exempt units as separate income streams with different cap rates, then add the values together
The most accurate approach for a mixed rent-controlled/exempt property in San Francisco is to analyze the two income streams separately. The 20 rent-controlled units have limited upside and different risk characteristics than the 10 Costa-Hawkins exempt units. Different cap rates should be applied to each stream — typically a higher cap rate for rent-controlled units (more risk/less upside) and a lower cap rate for exempt units (market-rate income with more flexibility). The sum provides the total property value.
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Related Topics & Key Terms
Key Terms:
Related Concepts
Discount points are upfront fees paid to a lender at closing to reduce (buy down) the interest rate on a mortgage loan. One point equals 1% of the loan amount and typically reduces the rate by approximately 0.25%.
An FHA loan is a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration that allows lower down payments and credit scores than conventional loans. It is designed to help first-time homebuyers and borrowers with limited resources.
A fixed-rate mortgage has an interest rate that remains constant for the entire term of the loan, resulting in equal monthly principal and interest payments throughout the life of the mortgage.
More Property Valuation Financial Analysis Questions
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Under California law, when a real estate licensee prepares a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) for a property, what is the legal distinction between a CMA and a formal appraisal?
Owner converted master bedroom into 'granny flat' costing $50,000 but adding $30,000 value. Later, kitchen remodel cost $15,000 but added $20,000 value. Which statement is correct?
- → The appraisal approach that estimates value by comparing a property to similar recently sold properties is the:
- → The period of time a structure continues to earn sufficient income to continue operations is referred to as the structure’s:
- → An appraiser in California is using the cost approach for a property in Sacramento and must account for entrepreneurial profit (also called developer's profit). A local developer confirms that typical profit margins in the Sacramento market are 15-20% of total development costs. How should the appraiser handle entrepreneurial profit?
- → A California buyer's agent is reviewing comparable sales data and notices that the county recorder's office lists different documentary transfer tax amounts for similar properties in the same city. Some properties show both a county and city transfer tax, while others show only the county tax. What does this difference indicate about the sale verification process?
- → When conducting a sales comparison analysis in California, an appraiser discovers that the subject property has an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) that was built under California's recent ADU legislation. How should the appraiser handle this feature?
- → A California real estate agent is selecting comparable sales for a CMA on a property in Fresno. The agent finds a sale from 14 months ago in the same neighborhood. Under standard California CMA practice, why might the agent hesitate to use this comparable?
- → A California real estate licensee is preparing a CMA and notices that one comparable property sold in a foreclosure auction conducted by a trustee under a deed of trust. How should this sale be handled in the CMA?
- → Compared to other appraisal factors, appraisers generally find the the most difficult calculation to measure precisely.
- → When a comparable sale used in an appraisal was not an arm’s length transaction, this affects the:
- → A property’s cost basis is most affected by an owner’s:
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