Basis value of home in 1983?

[Richard Carlsen]

If you have not done these, learn how. They are fun to do and a good source of income.

You get to play detective. What was the condition of the house in 1983? OK siblings, get out those family pictures and send them in. Check the taxes. See if you can find any old MLS books (yes they are still around sometimes - check with the old appraisers; they hate to throw anything away)

My suggestion is to buddy up with an appraiser who has experience with this kind of business and learn the ropes. You can command a higher fee by telling the client that due to the 24 years involved, this is considered a complex report and requires a lot more work than a normal assignment. With the extra work comes a healthy fee so that both of you can make some money off of the assignment.

Write the report on a General Purpose residential form. Use all of the EA's you want as to condition etc. This is a non-lending assignment so Supplemental Standards do not apply.

Have fun with it.

 

[Kali the Boston Terrier]

Oh yeah I forgot, I made both sides agree that the fact I was not alive for the 1962 effective date could not be brought up. When the other side found out what I had done in terms of research, they stiped without even looking at the value or the report. Sometimes a detailed SOW will inform opposing counsel of credibility, without the data.

 

[New Orleans Guy]

John...I charged by the hour It was pricey, but it was kind of fun. But then again it was probably fun because I was getting paid well.

Ah that is how to do it. Billable hours, lawyer style.

 

[Kali the Boston Terrier]

My Dad was an attorney, so besides learning to divide by three I also learned how to bill by the hour. Another related lesson was, I don't care what the amount per hour is, as long as I can count the hours.

 

[KenRossman]

"Basis" is just acquisition cost.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc703.html

 

[Roger Murdock]

I have a msg that I have not returned yet from a homeowner who's appraisal I completed about 1 year ago. The purpose of the appraisal back then was to settle a dispute with her siblings regarding selling the home or keeping it (it was their deceased parents home). Now she is calling wanting to know what the "basis" was in 1983? Huh? Isn't this a job for an accountant? I know that in income tax accounting, adjusted basis meant what you bought it for + improvements made - depreciation (in a nutshell). Should I tell her to talk to her accountant, or is this something that we appraisers are supposed to do using the cost approach, but how to I adjust it to 1983? I've never done this before, so sorry to sound so stupid. Your help appreciated.

This is easy work. You just have to make a time adjustment as follows (assume the current market value estimate is $300,000):

2007 - 1983 = 24

$300,000 - 24 = $299,976

and voila, you have your retrospective value. In truth it works better when you go back several thousand years, preferably tens of thousands, because otherwise the difference usually gets rounded out in the end anyway and it looks silly.