Coop decreasing property value *Update in first post

[CowgirlPenny]

Has anyone experienced this? I guess it did not even really occur to me that a well kept, clean sturdy coop and run could take away from your value. We are refinancing our home and today we had our appraisal. They came out, did the inside and went out to take pics. I glanced outside and saw the guy taking pictures of my actual chicken coop. Not the 40x20 run like standing a few feet away from the coop taking pictures. Is that really THAT big of a deal? It's an adorable little barn red coop. Everything is clean, matches and nothing is 'ghetto' looking. LOL It's hidden from street view, if we moved we'd take it down and with us just like a swing set or anything else that is a personal possession. I guess I just thought it was weird that he ignored our huge garden but took coop pics.

Has anyone ever had an issue with it lowering your home's worth?


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So, we had our appraisal. Not good. We have done some really good improvements and upgrades to the house and the market here is good. We were completely blindsided to find out that not only was our appraisal lower than we need it was actually lower than last year when this was a vacant foreclosure in need of serious TLC. Huh?!!

SO, really the only thing we can think of is the coop. Super bummed. Last year the house appraised for $113,000. We needed it to come in at $121,000 which is not unreasonable with the upgrades (slate backsplash, new kitchen,laundry and bath floors, entire house painted, updated light fixtures, hardware, faucets, shutters, brand new central heat and air unit, new duct work,etc) so to hear back that it only appraised for $108,000 has us thinking that all the good was outweighed by our big 'chicken run' that takes up almost the whole back yard

I really hope not. Still waiting on my copy. We'll probably dispute the appraisal no matter what the report says.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Did he say it decreased your value??

Out buildings in good shape usually increase the value as they can be repurposed.

Our coop is 8 x 8 shed style and we were told it was an "improvement". We were told we should get rid of the chickens by one real estate person and another said keep em it gives this that country feel...

We stayed instead.

 

[CluckyJay]

I try to keep my home as lowly as possible. Don't want people poking around, LOL. Hopefully keeps the taxes down too.
Just fix it up when you decide to sell, then get it reappraised is my theory, LOL.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

I've never heard of a well kept coop decreasing property value. I wouldn't worry about it unless they really said something to make you think it would impact the value... and in that case I'd definitely find a way to argue against it (assuming you want a high valuation).

 

[SuperChiks]

oh for Pete's Sakes - everything is an issue with people. Can't you have some nice chickens and buildings without a problem these days.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

It should make it go up but that's not a good thing when the tax man comes to look around.

 

[Delta2 23]

Our appraisal guy didn't even mention the coop.
Ours is an old, rusty corrguated steel one too, nothing like the pretty coop you describe. He said the fruit trees and chickens would actually be appealing for people who wanted to buy our house

The house has gone up in value though after we tore the kitchen out and put in a new one

 

[emys]

A nice coop would increase the value if I were the buyer.

 

[goldfinches]

I'm pretty sure outbuildings don't affect the appraisal? They're considered "personal property" and not included in the actual property value. But, the appraiser usually takes a pic and makes a note of all outbuildings and improvements just for the record.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

OK, I guess I had never thought of it like that. I saw him taking pictures and just assumed it was to show them as a deduction in the final rundown of how they came up with the appraisal amount. We have done all positive upgrades but were worried when we saw him taking pics of the coop that the coop would cancel out all the cosmetic improvements. Our house was a foreclosure and in pretty sorry shape, it looks totally different and cared for now.

They were not even here 15 minutes and I read that you are not supposed to ask them to discuss the results, so I did not ask. I figured I'd find out in the final report Monday. Long wait though. I will update you all as to whether it helped or hurt our new appraisal.

Our tax record already shows the house at $49,100 OVER what we paid. So, I don't expect a huge jump in the property tax since it would have to appraise about about $20,000 more than it did just a year ago when we bought it, so go over the amount we pay taxes on.