glenn walker
Elite Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2006
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- California
Think Californians are crazy spend some time in Washington State or Parts of Oregon. Its like the twilight zone 

You're really grasping here. Curb appeal on a starter home in C4 condition? Moreso than utility issues like the basement finish, attached garage and driveway, and overall superior quality/condition of the interior?View attachment 69891
This house you guys are pointing out? Look how ugly this house is. Has no character at all. And the 1,720 SF is probably 900 SF plus 820 SF basement.
Their not buying real estate they are buying a Life Style which is different than most other places. Areas of Los Angles are like this 900 Square foot 10 plus homes at $1,000,000 bucks. They do not want any new homes in their neighborhoods. They like old and funkythe only thing i am learning is how bloated these markets have become. can you build a similiar property for less? probably. anyways, number hitting is a prohibited bias
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You're really grasping here. Curb appeal on a starter home in C4 condition? Moreso than utility issues like the basement finish, attached garage and driveway, and overall superior quality/condition of the interior?
It is not superior quality but yes superior condition. Very cheap finishes throughout. And that house is ugly as ****.
But anyway, if you are not biased and I am not biased then you can see how two appraisals could have this difference of opinion.
Real estate is complex. This widely spread idea of appraisals being simple or cookie cutter in high density locations is nonsense. Real estate valuation is complex.
You're looking at the few, I've been looking at the many. I start my analyses from the macro and work inwards. I don't start my analyses and look for the few.
You can still see all those actives in that neighborhood, right?
The land is the majority of the value where? Not here. Likely in Seattle, which lessens the value of "cute" even more!That's because you live in Montana. The land is majority of the value.
While I don't disagree with your theory, when the hundreds of variables are not represented in the data, or when 90% of them have only a small impact on value, it is simply a fantasy to argue that each can be accounted for or measured at any stage of the process. Let alone the fact that what is a positive attribute for one buyer is a negative for another.It's these differences like deeper back yards, general appeal of the improvements, the wall that was removed between the kitchen and dining room, etc. that often causes these differences in opinions. These are not factors that are often given proper consideration. There are hundreds of variables like these that are not reflected in the sales comparison approach grid. The only way to really account for these types of differences is when selecting comparable properties.