4 killed in front yard

[David S. Roberson]

Good Lord, Frank, you make me feel like an old man. Yes, it was Iran, and the ribbons were from a recent song by Tony Orlando & Dawn. Yes, I said recent because to me it seems like only a short time ago. So maybe I an an old man.

 

[Dee Dee]

David,
I agree with you 100%....but even mentioning the memorial in a report is going to send up red flags that will need to be addressed. I'll be nearly impossible to find paired sales, and the possiblity of the dwelling itself being anywhere near similar is probably zero.
I feel terrible for the homeowner, and pity the appraiser having to make any adjustment decisions.

 

[Ray Ohler]

As far as when it all began, I can only tell you when I first noticed "memorials". I took an SREA course at Arizona State in 1986. After the course, I drove from Tempe, AZ up to Las Vegas to "relax". On the drive through the desert, I noticed small white crosses at various spots along the highway. Didn't fully understand what they were (duh?). I found out, each SMALL white cross was where someone was killed in a car accident. Now, in Phila. almost every spot where someone was killed (mostly car accidents - some shootings or stabbings) the spot has varying amounts of flowers, stuffed animals, cards, etc. I'm not being cold but some of it is getting completely out of hand. One spot that stands out was where 4 people (2 small children) were slammed into a tree by a coked up drug dealer. Around the tree (about 2 feet in diameter) was a little fence about 15 feet in diameter. Must have been filled with $3,500 worth of stuffed animals and flowers. This happened about 1 1/2 years ago. It's still there. Have ANY idea what those stuffed animals look like after 1 1/2 years of rain, snow and humidity? Granted, it MAY be a problem, but how much and how long? $10,000 or 365 days extended? OR, $2,000 and 60 days? Some things ARE the appraiser's judgment.

 

[Charlotte Dixon]

Frank...Be careful. What do you think the homeowner will do when he sees that adjustment on your report? Reality may sit in when he sees this memorial has hit him in the wallet. Will he remove the memorial and get you to re-calculate? Is there a stigma? How do you prove it? I still think you're getting in to a can of worms. Ignor it? Of course not! Do you think he'll go after the people who placed the memorial there to try and recoup the decline in value of his home? Probably not.....But...borrowers have been known to surprise us, especially when there is a loss of value indicated. I'll stick to my guns. Mention it, stressing that this is a movable object and don't get in to the stigma thing because you can't prove it. Put that in your report......No evidence could be located regarding.....etc. etc., unless, of course, you CAN prove that this property has been stigmatized.
Remember..
"Around Every Corner Is A Mad Dog" ....Annonymous...

 

[Anonymous]

Of course it's a stigma. As for proving it, i will relie on the "reasonable man" concept of English Law. In life, there are many
things that you don't have empirical data but are true none the
less. Life experience does count, and I use it.

And as for finding 'paired sales" on many bizarre situations they don't exist especially in non-conforming rural areas.

In cases like this I am reminded of a story about defining things:

The Supreme Court could NOT come up with a definition of ****ography but it was Mr. Justice Brennan who said, "I can't define it, but when I see it, I know it..."

There will be an adjustment, not much and the homeowner already knows it. Have a good week all

 

[Lee SW IL]

What about why the accident happened, is this the only accident at the site, or is it the only accident that killed someone. How many accidents in that area over the past few years?

We have a stretch of road in a rural area that has a few turns and a very sharp one at the end with houses back from the road. Every few years there is a bad accident with in that half mile.

One of my questions would be if I buy that house, do I want to or can I live with a bad crash in my front yard. Maybe if Im an EMT.

How do you adjust for that? good question.

 

[Anonymous]

Frank,
I see it as a nuisance. I appraised a property where the front yard
had a burried native american. The property sold, then the burial
was found in the deed and the sale failed. So those sorts of things
do affect value. It took the house a couple of years to sell because
of the disclosure.

Roadside gravesites are a nuisance. Along I-5 there is a site
where a train jumped tracks and ran into some cars. There is
actually a large marble monument. Highway momuments must
be new form of paganism....they lived on the road, they died on
the road, their soul is in the road.

I'd knock it down 5% but not "bury" it in the adjustments for
age and condition.

elliott

 

[xmrdfghap]

How did you arrive at your 5% estimate? What do you base the adjustment on?

Simply because you might not want the property does not mean there is a stigma. And $50.00 to a couple of guys with a pick up truck can make the memorial disappear. If it reappears, $10.00 per foot for fencing will cure it completely.

Remember, this is not a grave. It is a temporary memorial. Not marble, not concrete, no bronze plaques.....just a few flowers and some small crosses. Even cemetaries remove such stuff after a few days. While the owner may allow it to happen, he is under no obligation to permit it.

 

[Anonymous]

you can put five percent on it due to the fact that you are an experienced professional, licensed/certified by the state of _____
to perfrom real property appraisals and the fact that you have
_____ years of accumulated experience in valuation.

Use your common sense and project what the reasonable person would do.

To think that one can document everything is beyond the pale.
sometime you have to depend on your experience!!

so it goes...

 

[Richard Carlsen]

Frank...if it's a refi, I wouldn't even mention it. It's not a grave and there is no legal document giving permission to place the memorial there. The owner can either put up a no transpassing sign there (although I doubt if anyone would do that) or can request that the memorial be removed (doubt that too). The point is it doesn't have to be there forever. "

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Want to bet it does not have to be there forever. Just let the homeowner try say in 4 or 5 years, "No more. Take the markers off my lawn and from around my tree. And no more flowers".

The families, the friends, the press and the TV crews will be there for the headline story on the 6PM news with a lead in something like this:

<span style='color:darkred'>"Stay tuned and find out why a local man is calling it quits and putting a heartless end to four families remembering their dead children."</span>

Won't stay there forever? I would not bet on it.