Real Estate Appraiser

Commercial real estate appraisers sometimes receive appraisal assignments in which a manufactured or mobile home is included with the property that is being appraised. A mobile or manufactured home is a dwelling which is factory-built and is transported to the site either on its own chassis or on a flat-bed truck. In an appraisal of property which includes a mobile or manufactured dwelling, a critical factor to be determined is whether the manufactured home is to be appraised as personal property or real property. Manufactured homes by nature are personal property, and must be permanently “affixed” to the land in order to be appraised as real estate (or real property). Manufactured dwellings not permanently “affixed” to the land are typically appraised as personal property.

Some mobile homes are only anchored to the ground, with no underlying slab, and could be removed from the site relatively easily. It is debatable among real estate appraisers and users of appraisals as to whether or not the manufactured home becomes real property by simply anchoring it to the ground (and therefore, becoming “affixed” to the property). However, when determining as to whether or not a mobile/manufactured dwelling is real estate or personal property, there is yet another factor to consider. When the manufactured dwelling on the site becomes an integrated component of the property in regards to income generating potential, it is considered reasonable by some appraisers to treat it as real estate. For example, I recently appraised a five-acre tract with a manufactured home that was only anchored to the ground, with no slab. The subject property was leased to a tenant who lived in the manufactured home. Read the rest of this entry »