solomon licenses data from national building cost

Solomon licenses data from National Building Cost published by Craftsman Book Company.

NBC publishes base cost data that can be modified by the appraiser to account for labor and material markets

that correspond to zip codes. See following zip code multipliers. Multipliers can also be included for cost

differences as follows:

There is room for interpretation. My interpretation is:

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6

Repetitive Builds -12 -11 -10 -9 -8 -8

Outlying Area -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -2

Masonry Construction +10 +9 +8 +7 +6 +5

When I appraise a Q4 subdivision house in Zip Code 55123, I use a multiplier of 3. 55123 is plus 12 and

repetitive build is minus 9.

If I was appraising a Q3 brick house in a Miami subdivision, I would use a multiplier of -1. Zip Codes in Miami are

plus 1. Add 8 for Q3 brick construction. Subtract 10 for Q3 multiple builds.

NBC publishes economic life figures that vary by quality. I use their economic life data for two reasons. First,

because the cost data is developed with assumptions about economic life. NBC is my unbiased source I can

reference when asked about my reported economic life. The second reason is that replacement cost is current

cost and economic life is an estimate about the future of the replacement building, not the history of the subject

property. Here are the guidelines published in NBC.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6

70 70 70 60 60 55

There are six cost categories that correspond to the UAD Quality rating system, with half steps between each

category. Cost in a given category varies according to building complexity.

Solomon streamlines the process by assuming the following:

4 Corners 6 Corners 8 corners 10 corners

Q4, Q5 and Q6 Q3 Q2 Q1