A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did - by nearly $500,000

[Vermonter]

A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did — by nearly $500,000

Tenisha Tate-Austin and Paul Austin say they were lowballed when trying to refinance...

www.sfchronicle.com

 

[George Hatch]

paywall We went through this one in detail earlier this year.

Here's the Google Street's pic from 2019. No garage, rectangular box on columns. If there is a view it's just a heavily obstructed peek from ~3/4 mile.

Apparently what they did was build out a lower level - I saw a pic of the after, now it's a 2-story rectangular box. No garage, they might have redone the driveway - I don't remember.

What this property is not is a high quality custom home that was built to that size.

 

[Fernando]

A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did — by nearly $500,000

Tenisha Tate-Austin and Paul Austin say they were lowballed when trying to refinance...

www.sfchronicle.com

Can't really comment on the appraisals. Have to see the comps used.
Never done an appraisal in Marin City. Marin City is lowest priced area in that county.
Maybe subject is on border near the higher priced homes.
Maybe one appraiser used comps in same school district as subject.
For appraisers not familiar with that area, it's best appraisers not to appraise there.

 

[Vermonter]

Sorry I didn't hit a paywall. Archived version-

A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home and got a higher appraisal. Their federal lawsuit alleges Marin City has a history of undervaluing Black-owned homes

Tenisha Tate-Austin and Paul Austin say they were low-balled when trying to refinance...

web.archive.org

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

A Black couple ‘erased themselves’ from their home to see if the appraised value would go up. It did — by nearly $500,000

Tenisha Tate-Austin and Paul Austin say they were lowballed when trying to refinance...

www.sfchronicle.com

Of course they always sue the one that came in lower, not the one that came in higher. until they get foreclosed on and then the other appraiser is sued.

 

[George Hatch]

This property is a 3bd unit that sold in the same neighborhood after these appraisals. Same design, more site improvements but a smaller overall size.



A remodeled 4bd unit, more similar in size, sold in 05/2021 (possibly a year after the 2020 appraisals). The $130k difference for the 500sf larger size (relative to the Drake property above) amounts to $260/sf size adjustment.





You know what I'm not seeing? A $1.5M value for that subject in 2020.

 

[The Bob]

Here's the money quote...

By focusing the first appraisal only on the small number of homes sold in the immediate Marin City area, Howard-Gibbon said the appraiser “built an invisible barrier” around the home by comparing it only to other sale prices in a long-marginalized area — a result she called “recycled discrimination.”

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

$995,000 seems closer baesd on the data I'm seeing. Of course they don't sue the guy/gal who appraised it higher.

 

[shrubberyvaluation]

Here's the money quote...

By focusing the first appraisal only on the small number of homes sold in the immediate Marin City area, Howard-Gibbon said the appraiser “built an invisible barrier” around the home by comparing it only to other sale prices in a long-marginalized area — a result she called “recycled discrimination.”

Sounds like the other appraiser who appraised $500,000 higher went to a superior area for "comps"

 

[George Hatch]

I can pretty well guess that the other appraiser would have had to cross to the s/east (bay) side of that highway into Sausolito proper to get the sales of that size; except that area has higher prices in general.