Blotched Appraisal ?

[Alex S.]

Had an appraisal done last week and just had time to sit down and review. It came in low which cost me to bring another 12K to closing to close on funds to build. However I believe he made a huge mistake, but wanted to know for sure before I bring it to his attention tomorrow.

He appraised it as a split level with a finished basement and listed the foundation as partial basement, so of course the basement is not considered living space. The problem I have is this is clearly a slab foundation. Not one piece of this property will be below grade, one piece of level slab concrete, so how is it considered a partial basement? The property may be considered bi-level with foyer in middle between the two levels, but nothing is below grade.

I know for a fact what type of foundation it is, I've built quite a few houses, but do appraisers look at it different? Why is this considered a partial basement when clearly it is slab on grade? Even the plans have it listed as slab. Either he does not know what a slab on grade means or either I don't understand appraising, which could be the case.