Appraisal - Below Grade

[Stephen Chittenden]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but here it goes.  We're looking to sell the townhome we live in.  The home is a 24x48' attached middle townhome.  It is four levels.  You enter on the second floor, which in the front of the house you enter by stepping up about a 4" step.  At the back of that level, there is deck 10' off the ground.  There are two floors above it.  There is also a walk-out basement under the back one-half or so of the house. The main level also has the garage located at the front of the house.  The driveway comes up to the driveway, and there is a lip of about 1" up into the garage.  There is a step of 3-4" from the garage into the foyer of the house.  We recently had an appraisal to help with determining the listing price (we hired the appraiser directly).  She is insisting that the above grade square footage is just the two floors above the entry level (24x48x2=2304 sq ft) and that the 800 or so of finished square feet on the entry level is "below grade."  Does this sound reasonable to anyone?  I am thoroughly perplexed as to how a level that is 4" above the plane of the earth in the front of the house and 10' above the plane of the ground in the back of the house could be considered below grade.  

[Jonathan David]

Well, just my two cents off the top of my head. The whole above grade below grade distinction is based on a couple of factors. First is the cost of construction. Below grade is cheaper because you can pour cement walls as opposed to building 2 x 4's with insulation siding sheathing etc. second, below grade usually has a higher risk of water penetration thus making it a less desirable space. You can also have the issue of egress with below grade, making the space less habitable. So if you look at the purpose behind the distinction, it seems highly nonsensical to me,