High voltage transmission towers on property

[hal380]

Here's the senario;

High value home, in good neighborhood. Has 4 humongus towers at the rear of his property. These monsters are approximately 135 feet high. They have recently been installed and there have been no home sales that I have discovered so far to develop an adjustment factor. Its one of those "I know it has an impact, but I need support for a specific No."

Whether real or imagined, the electro-magnetic fields in the area of high voltage has a dampening effect on home values.

Any help with this analysis would be appreciated. I realize that my market may be different from yours, but am coming up dry with Ideas.

I have spoken with the tax assessor in the town, and they recognize a 15% adverse impact on the property, I will be speaking with Realtors too.

Regards

Hal

 

[jtinmichigan]

A good start would be to see if the assessor has any data to back this up. They've obviously come up with a 15% adjustment. Also, how big is the property? Are the improvements within the fall line of the towers? Or, is this a large acreage property and the towers are 5 to 10 acres back?

This may take some (or alot) of additional leg work to come up with this.

This particular high tension line may be new, but I'm sure its not the only one in your area. (or nearby areas). There are most likely to be one or more streets that have towers running down them and a little market analysis excercise of home sales with and without this feature should indicate a percentage, if any. Find that street, pull all of the home sales you can find from it, even going back several years, and then pull up nearby competing streets and see if the data corelates. This look at the local market is the only way to tell if there is any perceived negative impact in the market. Again, this may require some long hours.

This has happened to me and thats the only way I could make any kind of determination. We had one of these streets, not the subject street, that was similar (with towers). Found 8 sales over the past 5 years with towers and about 15 similar home sales without in that same perior of time within 2 miles. Came up with a range of 7% to 12% difference in prices, across the board. (and a headache). Again, this was specific to my area.

Finding that 1 or 2 streets that you know have towers on them is most likely the only good way to do this even if they are not in your immediate "high value" area. (I mean we can't expect the Realtors to actually put this in their listing sheets, can we........? )

 

[nofx4us]

I agree with JTinMICHIGAN

My parent's home is actually in a similar situation. They sit on a 50x200 plot of land, and the home is 60' in depth, set back 20'. Behind them are high tension lines, in plain view when the trees are naked in the winter months, but not in the fall distance of the home. The township just reassessed about 2-3 years ago, and gave a negative adjustment of only 7% for the lines, and that seems about average for home sales in the township.

When I encounter a home near power lines (which somehow I end up getting once a month!), the first thing I do is pull up msn.com maps of the area, and check out the bird's eye view. It seems to be of the highest quality out there (better than google earth), and you can EASILY follow the power lines through the area. Couple that with your MLS mapping program and start matching up similar sales. You'd be surprised what you'd find. (though I am in North Jersey and there do tend to be more externals around here to play with!)

 

[Mike Boyd]

HOW can there be 4 humongus towers on one site? It must be acreage. How far is the closest tower to the house?

 

[hal380]

A picture is worth 1000 words

Mike;

The property is 413' across the back and about 250 deep, there are 2.39 acres of land.

I have attached a picture.

Hal

 

[Mike Boyd]

I see. Single pole type towers. I was thinking of those 4 sided steel framed structures. On 2.35 acres, unless you have market data to the contrary, I would not make any adjustments.

 

[probasco]

just an fyi,
i have found several studies (google emf and housing), none specific to any nearby neighborhoods, that support the "perception" causes up to -18% in value. that -18% was done in the UK, not the USA, but others in the USA lend support to a stigma or perceived loss to the close proximity to high tension lines.

 

[hal380]

Power lines

Thank you probasco, that is useful information

Hal

 

[aussie ken]

Here's the senario;

High value home, in good neighborhood. Has 4 humongus towers at the rear of his property. These monsters are approximately 135 feet high. They have recently been installed and there have been no home sales that I have discovered so far to develop an adjustment factor. Its one of those "I know it has an impact, but I need support for a specific No."

Whether real or imagined, the electro-magnetic fields in the area of high voltage has a dampening effect on home values.

Any help with this analysis would be appreciated. I realize that my market may be different from yours, but am coming up dry with Ideas.

I have spoken with the tax assessor in the town, and they recognize a 15% adverse impact on the property, I will be speaking with Realtors too.

Regards

Hal

Hal......the towers maybe at the rear but an additional thought is to consider where is the actual easement line for the powerlines is in relation to the improvements ...........do any of the major improvements sit within the easement?...........Locally, we have a few major financiers who will not lend on any property within 150metres of such beasts. Good luck.

 

[timd354]

I see. Single pole type towers. I was thinking of those 4 sided steel framed structures. On 2.35 acres, unless you have market data to the contrary, I would not make any adjustments.

Yeah, I am sure that having those big ugly power lines in the back yard has no effect on value at all.....it may not be easy to determine the correct amount of the adjustment, but to make no adjustment for this situation would be insane, at least any market areas with which I am familiar.