BLOG

Lately I feel my street cred as an appraiser challenged more often than usual.  While the difficult, hard to appraise property was assigned to me occasionally, now it feels like the norm.  On one hand it's a good thing cause it keeps me on my toes as an appraiser, on the other .....  Zoning has been on my radar a lot.  The single family residence that the owner turned into a four plex; the single lot with two distinct residences situated on it and more trickly issues of trying to determine whether a house is a duplex (double) or a single family home.  So many shot gun style homes in New Orleans that were doubles have been turned into single family homes as buyer expectations as to square footage have changed.  The City of New Orleans doesn't keep up with these differences, but it does impact legal and permissible zoning and thus the ability to get a loan and insurance.  I just try and be realistic about it--if a former double still has two electric meters, which most do, I let the floor plan of the dictate the result.  The big question is always how many kitchens.  Two kitchens and two meters and you have a double; two meters and one kitchen and a floor plan that suggests a single family and it's a single family.

I've heard