High voltage transmission towers on property

[CURT VAN HOOSER]

I am laughing because I find it very laughable to think that there would be no market reaction to 4 high tension towers located across the rear of a residential property. The amount of the market reaction may be difficult to extract, but, at least, in the areas in which I work, to think that there would be no negative market reaction is beyond hilarious. Maybe there is some market where market participants would not actually care about the high tension towers and the corresponding easement across the property, but I high doubt it.

Are you telling me that a prospective buyer considering two otherwise essentially similar properties, would be willing to pay the same amount for a property with an easement containing high tension lines running across the property as the property without the high tension lines? puhleeze!!!

Can you read or do you have a comprehension problem?

 

[timd354]

Can you read or do you have a comprehension problem?

Curt, I can read perfectly well. Just what is it that you think that I do not comprehend?.....why don't you answer the pertinent question that I raised in my post?:

Are you telling me that a prospective buyer considering two otherwise essentially similar properties, would be willing to pay the same amount for a property with an easement containing high tension lines running across the property as the property without the high tension lines?

If you think that I am saying that an appraiser should make an unsupported adjustment, then you have misread what I have said. The point to my posts is, essentially, that not to make an adjustment for something that liekely has an effect on market value just because it is not easy to extract the correct amount of the adjustment from the available market data is just flat out wrong. To me, such a suggestion looks like a case of plain old laziness. Everyone on this board knows that high tension lines which run across a residential property undoubtedly have a significant negative influence on the value of that property. The only question is how large of a negative influence is there in a particular market area due this factor. I am not saying that an appraiser should just randomly make an adjustment, but what I am saying is that an adjustment needs to be made in such a situation even if it is very difficult to determine the correct amount of the adjustment. Correct determination of the market reaction to the high tension power lines may take some extra research to to limited available data. An appraiser may have to look a data going back quite a number of years, and/or expande the area in which he or she is looking. In extreme cases where there is little or no data available, it may even be appropriate to conduct a survey of participants in a given market to determine what the market reaction is to the power lines.

I guess that it is theorectically possible that there exists a market in which there is no negative reaction to high tension power lines running across a residential property (we are not talking about high tension power lines near the subject property, but high tension power lines which actually run across the subject property) That market would be called Lazy Appraisers' Fantasyland.

 

[CURT VAN HOOSER]

My apologies if I misunderstood your posts. I may be mistaken, but it certainly seemed to me that Mr. Boyd was saying that adjustments need to be supported by the market. That IF you cannot find such support, why would you make an adjustment. It doesn't matter what you think...it matters what you can prove. As to your "pertinent" question, all typical buyers are prospective buyers.. but not all prospective buyers are typical buyers. Maybe, like Mentor suggested, there is a buyer who will hang that induction coil to light up his Christmas lights. Who knows...

Personally, through his contributions to this forum, I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Boyd. Your comments to him seemed nothing short of insulting which just irritated the heck out of me. However, I have slept well and am ready to start the day anew. Again my apologies...

 

[timd354]

My apologies if I misunderstood your posts. I may be mistaken, but it certainly seemed to me that Mr. Boyd was saying that adjustments need to be supported by the market. That IF you cannot find such support, why would you make an adjustment. It doesn't matter what you think...it matters what you can prove. As to your "pertinent" question, all typical buyers are prospective buyers.. but not all prospective buyers are typical buyers. Maybe, like Mentor suggested, there is a buyer who will hang that induction coil to light up his Christmas lights. Who knows...

Personally, through his contributions to this forum, I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Boyd. Your comments to him seemed nothing short of insulting which just irritated the heck out of me. However, I have slept well and am ready to start the day anew. Again my apologies...

Curt, there is no need to apologize, perhaps my prior posts were not as clear as they should be. Your point regarding typical vs. prospective buyers is well taken....I should have framed my questions using the word "typical" buyer, since that is what I meant. I don't know Mr. Boyd, but I will take your word that he is worthy of respect. Anynow, I appreciate your response and hope that you are having a great day.

 

[CURT VAN HOOSER]

Curt, there is no need to apologize, perhaps my prior posts were not as clear as they should be. Your point regarding typical vs. prospective buyers is well taken....I should have framed my questions using the word "typical" buyer, since that is what I meant. I don't know Mr. Boyd, but I will take your word that he is worthy of respect. Anynow, I appreciate your response and hope that you are having a great day.

As do I you...

 

[Queen City Gurl]

Over the years there will be many cases , such as this, that appraisers will have to rely on their acquired experience/expertise level in determining an adjustment. You may not be able to extract an adj from comps at this particular time in the subject's area, but that does not mean that you cannot somehow find a basis in which to determine an adj, by utilizing knowledge of another instance from 3 years ago, etc. and develop a ratio as one poster mentioned, and apply it to the subject property in the current market/location.

I'd be hard pressed to find an area where those towers would not affect the value on a property on that size lot. As a professional, you know there has to most likely be a detrimental affect, and though you may have no current info to extract an adj.

Certainly, you should not just not make one, but rely on your experience and expertise, and find a way to apply it to your property and current conditions.

Being able to extract a market adj is ideal, but there are actually instances where you can never hope to derive a market adj, due to lack of data for extraordinary circumstances. Murders, dead bodies, public perception of such properties..... just to name a few possible scenarios. We are supposed to rely somewhat on our professional opinion, even if we don't have a perfect market extraction in our pockets...

 

[JSmith43]

Being able to extract a market adj is ideal, but there are actually instances where you can never hope to derive a market adj, due to lack of data for extraordinary circumstances. Murders, dead bodies, public perception of such properties..... just to name a few possible scenarios. We are supposed to rely somewhat on our professional opinion, even if we don't have a perfect market extraction in our pockets...

I am partial to that view. In the current environment (torches & pitch forks, hanging judges on appraisal boards, etc), I would flesh this out in scope comments so as to disclose your operating standards. This is partly for other readers. I suspect you do practice CYA just fine.

 

[Mike Boyd]

It so happens that, in my area, there are several tracts of homes varying from the low end of around $375,000 to a high end of $1,000,000 with high voltage power lines either in direct view or on the property with easements. Those with the HV power lines at the rear---200 feet or more from the house show marginal, if any, difference in value due to that fact. This is generally because those lots with the towers are considerably larger so that they are relatively unobstrusive. EMFs that cause brain cancer is a proven myth.

 

[Mr Rex]

The crackle and hum reminds me of a certain breakfast cereal enjoyed with a gnat trying to enter your ear.

 

[timd354]

It so happens that, in my area, there are several tracts of homes varying from the low end of around $375,000 to a high end of $1,000,000 with high voltage power lines either in direct view or on the property with easements. Those with the HV power lines at the rear---200 feet or more from the house show marginal, if any, difference in value due to that fact. This is generally because those lots with the towers are considerably larger so that they are relatively unobstrusive. EMFs that cause brain cancer is a proven myth.

According to post #5, the property in question is a residential property that is only about 2.39 acres and only 250 deep, so these four 135 ft. tall towers are almost certainly no more than 200 feet from the house. The easment for these 4 towers which, from the attached picture, are parts of 2 full sets of high tension lines has to be at least 50 feet wide running across the rear of a property that is 413' wide. Thus the easement covers almost a 1/2 acre of the property. I do not appraise in Connecticut, but I know that Connecticut isn't known for low property values.....is anyone going to really seriously argue that these power lines and the corresponding easement has no significant effect on the value of this property? Puhleeze.

If this is true, I sure hope that the power company did not get ripped off and actually have to pay for this easement.