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Golf Course Good, Bad, Or No Value

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ROBERT JONES

Junior Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2002
Professional Status
Certified Residential Appraiser
State
New Jersey
Subject property backs to 1st tee and fairway of a golf course. The siding of the subject property's right side and entire rear have approximately 500 holes. Additionally there is an in-ground pool. It is clearly obvious that there is a problem. Any thoughts on how to handle this? The borrower has to be aware of the cause of the holes. Does the potential danger and on-going issue deter from the location amenity, the pool amenity. I have my own opinions but I have nothing in the market to support what I believe to be the case - which is the golf course is not a positive and possibly a negative as the problem is not going away.
 
Obviously, this golf course caters to lousy golfers! You really can't find any data? I find that hard to believe. The neighborhood is on a golf course. There has to be sales on the fairway. Go old if you have to.
 
You really can't find any data? I find that hard to believe.

I live in a golf course community (but not near the course). There is ONE home here that is platted and the home is situated so that golf balls have gone into the pool weekly and the house has been hit. This home is the only one on the course with this problem and it sold for about $200,000 less than other "comparables".
 
Usually it's windows but you can get special screens or netting. Brick the siding or use a very hard siding.
 
AI's Journal latest edition has an article on the value effects of cart paths and other locations, done by two PHDs. its worth a read. I've lived in houses with frontage and I like being along a fairway....free golf balls, get to watch lots of bad swings and the people move along. Tees and greens have people standing around and yapping.
 
An interesting problem if there is no hard data available. You may have to solve it using logic.
I have an amenity which would typically would be expected to have a neutral-to-positive appeal.
However, the specific location carries with it consistent hazards (errant slices or hooks).
Logic would argue that the golf course view/proximity is diminished by the bombardment.
So,with this alone, there is a reason to consider a downward/offsetting adjustment for the view/proximity due to the improvements being pelted by golf balls.

Can the hazard be offset by putting up some kind of screen/net? That isn't ideal (who wants that, all other things being equal) but at least it will minimize the damage done to the house.
If the answer is "yes", then there is a basis for a dollar adjustment (along with some modification to the view impairment that the screen may create).

In the big scheme of things, how much of a premium would be associated with the subject's (or, is it Subject's?) location without being an alternative target to the fairway?

Not all conditions/influences can be quantified in the grid. Logic and sound rationale can support an adjustment in lieu of that data. The objective is, after the discussion of the condition, does its impact on value appear reasonable (if the location was worth a 10% premium without the hazards, should it be worth less with the hazard? If less, how much... maybe to the point of offsetting the premium?).

In addition, I'd find brokers/agents who actively sell in the golf community and pose the question to them. They may not be able to supply me with a specific adjustment but then can probably give an indication of the scale of the impact vs. what otherwise would be a positive amenity (proximity to the course and view).


Good luck!
 
Talk about golf courses has me reminiscing about college age days. A friend of mine lived in a townhouse that backed up to a golf course at Myrtle Beach. He was on the fairway where a lot of drives off the tee would land. You could not see the tee box from the ground level but you could see the top of their head from the 2nd floor balcony. After a beer or 12 we would watch for tee shots and run out and grab the ball and throw it further down the course with all we had or throw it back toward the tee box, careful not to throw it back over the hill or simply grab it and walk back inside and go sit on the 2nd floor balcony and enjoy the entertainment. It was always funny to see their head swell when we would compliment them on crushing the drive when we had winged it on towards the hole or how disappointed they were with a shortened drive or see how long they would spend looking for the ball in my pocket. :rof:
 
There used to be lots of comments about golf lot hazards in our MLS listings. Things like 'no golf balls here' were common. But I have not seen one of those in years. Nor have I noticed any golf ball dents on any homes I have appraised in the last few years. Maybe they are doing a better job of positioning the tees or something....

One of my first golf course lots when I was a brand new trainee and had barely earned the right to carry the camera was a prelisting appraisal for a golf course property. They had bought the home a few months prior and just moved in a couple weeks ago. They were sitting in the pool when a golf ball whacked Mrs Homeowner in the elbow and smashed it to smithereens. She said if that had hit a grandchild's head it would have killed them and she was not spending another day in that house. Taught me to look very closely at the back of golf course houses.
 
Developers will charge a premium for a golf course lot. Realtors try and justify higher prices for golf course lots. In established subdivisions, it is very difficult to show any additional value for location on the course. That said, a rabid golfer might be willing to pay a premium. The other side of that coin is guys like me. I would never consider buying a golf course lot. I don't want people peeing in my bushes, or chasing their balls in my yard. I sure as hell don't want 3-400 people a day walking by staring in my pool cage. That house is completely worthless to me.
 
Talk about golf courses has me reminiscing about college age days. A friend of mine lived in a townhouse that backed up to a golf course at Myrtle Beach. He was on the fairway where a lot of drives off the tee would land. You could not see the tee box from the ground level but you could see the top of their head from the 2nd floor balcony. After a beer or 12 we would watch for tee shots and run out and grab the ball and throw it further down the course with all we had or throw it back toward the tee box, careful not to throw it back over the hill or simply grab it and walk back inside and go sit on the 2nd floor balcony and enjoy the entertainment. It was always funny to see their head swell when we would compliment them on crushing the drive when we had winged it on towards the hole or how disappointed they were with a shortened drive or see how long they would spend looking for the ball in my pocket. :rof:

Thats mean, just plain mean...........but kinda funny, LOL
 
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