Section 4: Appraisals for Design Purposes
Anchor: #i1000933Procedure
Staff or fee appraisers may accomplish appraisals for preliminary design purposes. Appraiser services are contracted the same as right of way appraisal services by execution of Form ROW-A-3. TxDOT sets appraisal fees for design purposes by a pre-determined lump sum fee based upon the established hourly rate, and are project- or job-specific, rather than parcel-specific. Follow the procedure as outlined in Section 3, Chapter 2, to arrive at an equitable fee. The basis for determination of the fee is to be included in the space provided on the Form ROW-A-3. Requests for fee appraisal services for design purposes originate with the District that forwards them to the Design Division with complete information regarding the need of the proposed appraisal work. The District then submits Form ROW-A-3, signed by the District Engineer and by the appraiser in quadruplicate.
Since these appraisals are for design purposes only, they need not be as detailed as appraisal reports for right of way acquisition. They are made in narrative form, including the appraiser's transmittal letter, a listing of comparable sales, and a brief narrative discussion for each property affected.
To provide needed documentation and facilitate the review of the appraisal, that portion of a city or county map necessary to show the subject parcels and comparable sales should be made a part of the report. The location of the comparable sales should be identified in a manner that they may be correlated with the sales described in other parts of the report.
Considerable time passes before schematics are approved and the project released for right of way acquisition, so data obtained normally will be of little value for actual right of way purchases. Therefore, new appraisals will be required to determine the current market value for right of way acquisition.
Payment to the appraiser for design needs services will be in accordance with his/her contract, as authorized by the Design Division, and approved by the Design Division. Since these appraisals are for design purposes only, the costs will not be classified as a right of way expense but will be applied to the appropriate CSJ authorization.