High voltage power line proximity

[ZZGAMAZZ]

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.

Years ater after reading an AF post by Nephew Glen, I still marvel at the sight of every utility improvemet or cell phone tower or whatever...which per the post would not have been legally built if it posed a potential hazard because of a residential improvement in its "fall zone."

 

[PushinValue]

Surely there has to be some sales that back to power lines. Even if you have to go back in time. Typically, I pull up the MLS sales map and follow the same power lines and if I come up with nothing I look for the others (there is never just one).

The funny thing is when the real estate market is booming and there are fewer listings, no adjustment can be supported for adverse location. However, in the slower real estate market times adverse location can be supported for some reason.

More inventory. More choice. Discount if you ever want to sell because 99 out of 100 people don’t want the high power lines if given a choice

 

[Fernando]

More inventory. More choice. Discount if you ever want to sell because 99 out of 100 people don’t want the high power lines if given a choice

If you can't justify for negativity next to high power lines, you can adjust for unsightly views especially if within few feet from house.

 

[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.

That usually indicates a high load on the lines. About 10 years ago, they upgraded the lines over our farm by about double and replaced many poles and lines. Before then in summer the lines popped and sizzled like frying bacon. Afterwords, I never notice the sound. I asked an employee of the local service about it and that's what he said.

You will get static electricity. We were warned to not lay aluminum or metal irrigation lines parallel to the lines within 100 yards, nor to refuel a gasoline vehicle under the lines (spark.) Supposedly a long parallel line acts as an induction coil and could build up a huge amount of charge.

 

[alebrewer]

Negative external influences tend to be mitigated during times of inventory shortages and exacerbated during times of inventory gluts.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

so when you see a property with improvement close to the line, check if it sold in the last 5 or ten years.

Is there not also an element of people building smaller cheaper homes closer to lines. People on a budget hunt for cheaper land as well. Ditto cell towers, landfills, rock quarries, poultry farms (large ones) and hog farms. Saw this in a subdivision built near a cattle auction that handled 2000 head or so cattle during a 2-day period per week. Nearby residents complained but the sale barn preceded them by 20 years.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

Negative external influences tend to be mitigated during times of inventory shortages and exacerbated during times of inventory gluts.

Ditto internal factors as well including condition, eh?

 

[Gobears81]

I was able to find two sales like this for a project a couple of years ago. I recognized 2% damage for a high-tension line in close proximity. Be sure to document how close the lines actually are to the house. You might try contacting brokers that have a lot of activity, and they may be able to recall a sale that had similar circumstances.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Ditto internal factors as well including condition, eh?

When the Great Recession was still ahead, I saw houses sold in the 1990s that were doubling in price by 2006. Shortage was driving prices and fixer uppers were high priced. These were the first to fold when the GR hit. And the prices plunged. $50,000 1990s houses selling for $100,000 in 2005, sold as REOs were often $30-40K... Now they are sky high again. My old barber developed rapid onset dementia, and his daughter sold his house. It is small. And with very little remodeling it was resold recently for $200/SF - 686 SF...

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

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.

Very helpful, practical insight. Thanks.