High voltage power line proximity

[Terrel L. Shields]

Not happy that the box was near their home.

Well, take it away and live without electricity then... NIMFY I suppose.

 

[Dublin ohio]

When my in-laws bought a new home not yet built in a new subdivision, they saw the anticipated layout, style, etc.
After it was built, I noticed an electrical box near their front yard. Newer subdivisions have underground lines.
Not happy that the box was near their home. I never said anything about the box to them.

Yes they have underground lines. That electrical box is a pad mounted transformer and typically service more than one home and they will be throughout the subdivision. So what's the problem

 

[Dublin ohio]

My thinking is there has been talk about these power lines causing health issues, whether proven true or not. Were a prospective purchaser to do a simple google search, all kinds of info comes up, many mentioning cancer. Would this not produce a certain stigma?

The electromagnetic field dissipates exponentially with distance. I have never been able to determine any kind of reaction unless the home is very close to the lines. On warm humid days you can walk under those lines and you can hear them crackling and humming and the static electricity can make the hair on your arms stand up. Years ago I had a none contact meter that we used to detect breaks in electrical wires. It was sitting on the passenger seat and when I drove under a high voltage line it started beeping.

 

[sputnam]

I have a subject property which abuts a high voltage power line easement. There is a tree buffer, but the lines are visible. I have searched back two years for sales abutting similar power lines with no results. I used google earth to track these particular lines, pulled up any home in tax records in similar proximity to the lines and came up empty, no recent sales. So, a matched pair analysis is not possible. Now what? Clearly there would be an impact on marketability, but if I cannot prove an adjustment, how should I handle this?

Look older, farther. If you put in the work, you will find something. When you can't find a good current pair, percentages are your friends.

The last one I did, I identified sales along the same power line using public records and then got detailed information about those sales using MLS.

Remember... Appraisers don't prove anything. We support our analyses, conclusions, and opinions.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

My thinking is there has been talk about these power lines causing health issues, whether proven true or not. Were a prospective purchaser to do a simple google search, all kinds of info comes up, many mentioning cancer. Would this not produce a certain stigma?

Not necessarily. Although the impact of any property-specific or external factor should be quantified if possible, before relying on "the appraiser's experience and knowledge," none of the home owners who I interviewed during the past several years who own properties presumably affected by utiility expressed any concern; and as the AF expressed about two years ago, the potential impact of being in a fall zone literally doesn't exist because developmental standards would preclude that possibility. Another perspective is that the absence of tangible data defaults to a non-adjustment factor

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

I had one a few years ago in a very suburban area. I found a nearby sub that was bordered with a similar PL easement with lots of recent sales and I was able to extract a very supportable adjustment, both for view of just the PL (2%) and for view/proximity of a tower (4%).

My subject had 3 price reductions from $495k to $425K with 155 DOM (vs ~30 or less) and a SP of $410k. This was in a very active, rising market so that right there tells you something.
I've also made it a habit to ask people on re-fi's how they viewed the PL's. For most people it didn't really bother them. No neighbors backing up to you, etc... One guy built a putting green in the easement, a few others had gardens. The key was if they had a tower directly in view. That def affected it.

The supply-demand factor is critical as fewer listings creates competition about buyers who consequently are more willing to accept potentially deleterious factors. {Probably obvious and doesn't need to be said here...]

 

[Mark K]

Clearly there would be an impact on marketability, but if I cannot prove an adjustment, how should I handle this?

My advice on how to handle it is to do the research and then draw a conclusion, not the other way around.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

On warm humid days you can walk under those lines and you can hear them crackling and humming and the static electricity can make the hair on your arms stand up.

The line from the power plant 3 miles away sizzled and crackled for years under heavy load. About 10 years ago they rebuilt the line to raise the voltage and capacity. The sizzling has gone away. The engineer told me that the sizzle meant it was near capacity load. If you have ever watched a helicopter electrician repairing a line, you know why the pilot and electrician both are knocking down big bucks $400k or more annual salary.

 

[bsilver]

Ah yes, transmission line (HVOTL) proximity value impacts. I have prepared many dozens of appraisal reports with the question of the impact on real estate from transmission line proximity. There's a lot of impacted sale data out there, it's not hard to find, but you need a veritable **** pot load of observations to reliably abstract the impact from the other differential noise. There are clear measurable impacts, most of the time, but the impact drops to nothing very quickly as the distance to the lines increases.
After doing so many of these studies, and being extremely diligent for multiple court appearances, I created a very large database of impacted transfers along with at least a handful of unimpacted of comparables for each, which resulted in god knows how many individual case studies. Well over 50 case studies, hundreds of sales.

Impacts generally dont get much higher than 30%, but it could happen. Most properties are not impacted more than 5% to 10%, some properties aren't impacted at all. Low value small residences in urban / densely populated areas are are generally impacted significantly less than high value,, large, high quality, rural estates by similar lines at similar distances. Depending on the impacted property type and the available comparables for reliable abstraction and isolation of the value impact, your research geography and time frame could make research lengthy. It makes sense if the appraisal problem is a lawsuit claiming total loss in value of a multi-million dollar mansion, less so for the likely negligible impact on a 2 bd / 1 bth 900 SF dinky home that hasn't seen so much as paint on a brush in 20 years.

Easiest way to find sales: follow the lines on assessor GIS parcel map viewers. They usually have aerial image base maps, so when you see a property with improvement close to the line, check if it sold in the last 5 or ten years.

 

[Tom D]

Did a house in a new small development. To get into the main entrance you drove under those power lines to get in. However, i have not noticed an price difference around here. That open rear greenway may balance off the power lines. What's worse, power lines or a close neighbor.