TJ McCarthy & Associates
Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants
Serving the Chicagoland area for over 30 years.
IN THE NEWS
Q&A with Freddie Mac on Gross Building Area and ADUs
02/26/21
Tim McCarthy, SRA, ASA, IFA recently had a Q&A exchange with the Freddie Mac policy team regarding how to: correctly calculate GBA on 2-4 family properties, identify below grade finished improvements in multi-family properties, identify and appraise a property with an illegal unit or an illegal ADU. QUESTION: When would you include below grade improvements in the GBA on 2-4 family properties? I was unable to find a definition from Freddie Mac, but Fannie Mae defines GBA as follows... The Gross Building Area… is the total finished area including any interior common areas, such as stairways and hallways of the ...More
Appraisal Foundation Extends USPAP through 2022
02/23/21
On February 19th the Appraisal Foundation issued a news release extended the expiration date of the current version of USPAP for one year through December 31, 2022. They also included FAQ’s on how this will impact you as an appraiser. So what does this mean for Illinois appraisers? As many of you already know, our law requires all licensed appraisers to comply with the following CE requirement regarding the 7 hour National USPAP Update course: A real estate appraiser must complete the 7-hour National USPAP Update Course or its equivalent by June 30 of an even-numbered year, following the release of USPAP. This would appear to create a ...More
What is an Accessory Dwelling Unit?
02/17/21
So what exactly is an ADU? Fannie Mae defines and ADU as “an additional living area independent of the primary dwelling that may have been added to, created within, or detached from a primary one-unit dwelling. The ADU must provide for living, sleeping, cooking, and bathroom facilities and be on the same parcel as the primary one-unit dwelling”. When reporting the living area of an ADU, it should not be included with the Gross Living Area calculation of the primary dwelling. It should be reported and adjusted for on a separate line in the grid, unless the ADU is contained within or part of the primary dwelling with interior access and above grade...More
Fannie Mae Sellers Appraisal Risk Management Policy Reminders and Resources.
01/12/21
This Lender Letter is full of great information for appraisers and lenders to help them better understand how Fannie’s Collateral Underwriter (CU) program functions when reviewing and scoring our appraisals. CU scores our appraisal with a 1 to 5 rating with 1 being the least risky. A file rating higher than 2.5 triggers several issues for a lender. Here is just a sampling of what this Lender Letter covers. The five most common appraisal significant defects with a CU risk score of 2.6 or higher are: Inappropriate Comparable Sale(s) Selection Due to Location Inappropriate Comparable Sale Adjustment(s) Use of Physically Dissimilar Comparable Sale(s) –...More
Contact Us
Coverage Map
*Click on the shaded area of our service map for County Names
