Thank you everyone for participating in the Sacramento Appraisal Blog’s first blog contest. The grand prize was a $125.00 Residential Natural Hazard & Tax Disclosure Report compliments of www.GeoAssurance.com. I appreciate all who entered by commenting on THIS blog post (or tweeting the post). Please see the 40 second video below to see who won. Thanks again everyone and thank you to GeoAssurance for being a great sport about supporting this contest and providing the prize!!!
Sacramento Real Estate Appraisal
An Unknown Blackish-Greenish Substance
What is the substance in the pictures below? How would you describe it if you were telling a friend about the images? Have you ever encountered a property like this before? If you are a real estate agent, have you sold something similar? If you were planning to purchase a fixer-upper in the Sacramento Region (or elsewhere), would a blackish-greenish substance like this deter you from entering contract?
When appraisers come across issues like this, one would think we’d simply call the substance “mold”, but that’s not the case. The truth is that since a real estate appraiser is not a fungus or mold specialist, it’s important to not speak definitively about something that another licensed professional should be the expert on. Moreover, what if the substance was not just mold caused by excessive moisture damage, but “toxic mold”?
So what do appraisers say when encountering properties with an issue like this? Well, until we get clarification or a definitive pronouncement from a licensed mold professional, we simply describe the substance in words similar to “an unknown blackish-greenish substance”. When we do find out what the substance is, then we can better determine the impact on market value depending on cost-to-cure and the reaction in the marketplace to the existence of such a substance.
On Fannie Mae’s 1004 Appraisal Form, real estate appraisers are asked to identify any physical deficiencies or adverse conditions that might affect the livability, soundness or structural integrity of a property. The blackish-greenish substance in the photos above might potentially impact livability, right?
For further reading on mold, see the following links. You are welcome to suggest a link or share a story below too. Thank you to an appraiser colleague who provided these images to me out of his work file.
Mold Links:
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com An Unknown Blackish-Greenish Substance
Question: Could a location near a water tower impact market value for a home?
Somebody asked me the following question the other day and I figured I’d post a response here.
Q: Could a location near a water tower impact market value for a home?
A: Maybe. Sometimes water towers are quite large and the typical buyer may not want to live right next to the tower. Let’s face it, some buyers simply wouldn’t want to look at an enormous tower every day, so they’d steer clear of such a location. If this was the case and most buyers felt that way, then there could be an impact on market value. On the other hand, there may be other buyers who would be unaffected by a water tower, or evidence to suggest that such a location makes no difference at all.
There is not a hard-and-fast water tower rule for appraisers to follow. There is no specific “water tower adjustment” that appraisers make in reports. An adjustment in an appraisal report would really depend on what data in the specific market was saying. Any adjustment should be based on the reaction in the marketplace. Is there any evidence in the market that buyers are willing to pay less or more based on the location of a water tower? How do the most recent sales surrounding the water tower compare with sales further away? Does data show that there is really little to no impact on value?
Market conditions certainly play into the equation here too. If there is a vast oversupply of properties listed in the market, chances are someone might look to other listings first that maybe had a more typical view. However, in a market with very limited available properties, buyers may feel less concerned about such an issue and not consider a view of a water tower as a negative. After all, in a hot market with few properties to choose from, buyers tend to more easily overlook locational challenges (busy street, backs to commercial, located next to major fixer…) and even condition issues.
I don’t mean to be frustrating, but there is not really a straightforward end-all answer to the question that was posed to me. The answer really depends on your specific real estate market and what data in your local market says. My knee-jerk reaction is that most buyers would probably prefer to not live next to a water tower, but then again, it really comes down to what the data says because sometimes a real estate market is surprising and things that we think would make a difference in value don’t carry as much weight as we think (or none).
If you have any firsthand experience with a property near or next to a water tower, I’d be curious to hear what you have to say. Have you ever intentionally purchased a property near a water tower or away from one? Did you purchase a property near a water tower only to regret it later on? Is it just not a big deal for you at all? Feel free to comment.
www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Question: Could a location near a water tower impact market value for a home?
What are the potential savings you can have on your property taxes in the Sacramento Region?
Since we are taxed at a rate of up to 1.25% on the total assessed value of our properties, this basically means that for every $10,000 of assessed value you are paying roughly $100. Thus if you purchase a house for $300,000 and the value is $300,000, you will pay roughly $3,000 in property tax per year.
Imagine the following:
Assessed Value $25,000 too high = you overpay by $250 per year
Assessed Value $50,000 too high = you overpay by $500 per year
Assessed Value $100,000 too high = you overpay by $1,000 per year
Assessed Value $150,000 too high = you overpay by $1,500 per year
Assessed Value $200,000 too high = you overpay by $2,000 per year
As I stated in a previous post, my primary residence is currently assesed $35,000 too high and so I am scheduled to pay an additional $350 per year beyond what I should rightfully pay the Assessor. That doesn’t sit well with me. But there are home owners facing much more drastic situations where if they appeal their property taxes, they have a potential to save as much as $500-$1,000+.
Many times local home owners opt out of doing anything to contest their property taxes because they just don’t know what to do. That’s where we come in. We are glad to walk Greater Sacramento home owners through the process of appealing property taxes. We can help you understand what you can do and also what we can do for you. Whether you live in one of the following counties or own property in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Yuba, Sutter, Solano, or Merced County, give us a call today at 916-595-3735 or email us at LundquistCompany@gmail.com We invite you also to take a look at our property tax appeal website at www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com