Good afternoon, Robert...
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Not just that, but in determining what's "just" for real estate, courts
> typically discount certain factors:
>
> (1) Loss of business by relocation of a storefront.
Yes, I've seen that as recently as last month, when a well-known downtown
Spokane business finally was expelled from a set of warehouses that were
in the line of an encroaching developer's nightmare. Despite being in
business in the same place for over a decade, they didn't get a penny for
relocation. Not one red cent.
> (2) Appreciation. It is frequently thought "unjust" for someone to have
> gotten "lucky" due to increases in land value. On the other hand, if the
> land and/or bldgs. have DEpreciated, they'll tend to take THAT into
> account.
Now that's amusing. If it is unjust for property to have appreciated over
time, I guess we should discount equally then, right? Let's see... <Dave
scratches his head, but not very long> The filthy rich Cowles family of
Spokane, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyers, Nortown Mall...these are just a few of the
land owners in Spokane who have won imminent domain court decisions based
upon artificially deflated prices. Of course, they all had a battery of
lawyers to state how their poor clients were paying through the nose. ;-|
> (3) Sentiment.
>
> The excuse is that the market price is not a good guide, because the
> anticipated development has raised land prices there and in its
> surroundings -- that the anticipation of very the process which includes
> the taking has distorted values.
>
> OTOH, sometime properties are condemned and the owner gets a sweetheart
> deal, such that they actually benefit at taxpayer expense. In effect,
> because of political connections, the robbery is in reverse: a taking of
> tax dollars to reward a property owner, with the jurisdiction receiving
> less in value than was paid for.
Boy, are we seeing some really GOOD examples of this type of action in
Spokane, these days. There are several instances where Spokane County
really took it in the shorts for assessments, too. It's too bad I have an
appraisal firm as a client, or I could go into more details. However, it
is gross.
> I came across the appraisal-offer-and-settlement (or judgement) figures
> for properties taken 90 years ago for the Bronx River Parkway (Bronx River
> Reservation), and they make it look like a lottery. Most got less than
> the appraisal, but a few got much more.
<laughing to myself> Appraisers are an interesting bunch. It all depends
upon how *powerful* the appraisers' clients are. The more powerful the
clients, the higher the appraisers' estimates of land value turn out, it
seems, with some exceptions, of course.
Dave
--
Dave Laird ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project
An automatic & random thought For the Minute:
"I go on working for the same reason a hen goes on laying eggs."
- H. L. Mencken
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