Fire affecting value?

[Bruce Bugno]

We had a grass fire in the past week on the plains of Colorado and I was hired to complete an appraisal on a newly constructed house in the same area. When I got to the home, I found out that the fire burned a good portion of the 5 acres that the house sits on . No fire or smoke damage to the home just the prairie grass surrounding it. Matter of fact, since the new grass has not started growing yet in this area, it might be a couple weeks before the new growth will be seen growing out of the charred ground. My question is, has anyone had this situation in the past and how was it handled? Is there an effect on value of the land? Since the fire occurred just recently, I have no land sales to go by. I'm not sure the marketability or value would be affected since the charred ground might be barely visible in a month or so.

Thanks,

Bruce Bugno

 

[Mike Boyd]

Not likely from the fire, itself, since it is just a partial season away from looking virgin.

 

[Ted Martin]

We try to burn our land on a three year schedule to control weeds, brush and to propagate native species that need the fire. It's part of the prairie environment. In two to three weeks the burned areas will be greener and have a thicker stand of grass than the parts that didn't burn. I don't see any support of any kind of an adjustment in my part of the prairie for burned grass.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Just report it.

 

[Bruce Bugno]

Thanks for the info. Basically, what I thought - just need to disclose it.

 

[c w d]

Your opinion of value and the marketability of the subject is adversely affected if the fire is still active. If it's out, everything should be dandy.