Appraisal for land aquisition

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by Janet33

Again I am taking about a small portion of land, so small that paying a lawyer is not feasible. How would the process work WITHOUT a lawyer or appraisal?

You'd be "taken advantage of."
If this property is taken for roadway easement, you consider the reduction in "quality of life" due to add'l noise pollution and air pollution? To say nothing of a drunk driving onto your "remaining" property?

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by Chas863

I didn't mean to be disrespectful of you. It was that you kept insisting (or strongly implying) that the only thing that matters is the value of the land being taken when, in fact, that's often the LEAST consideration on many residential type properties where there is only a "partial" taking.

So, since you didn't seem willing to do any research, I did it myself. Took only a few seconds to find and I posted it for you and a link to where you could read the whole thing. Now if you want to continue to insist that you are right and the experts who wrote the link (and numerous others just like it) are wrong... well, I don't know what to tell you.

Of course there are appraisals, and often quite a bit more than that. A person needs a good lawyer if they are going to contest what the City/State offers them. I've been through all that personally. I've been through the process of essentially picking a "jury" of peers to decide who is right... the property owner or the state. I've presented my case to this "jury", and did so quite successfully. That's why I said that I've been there and done that. Been through the whole process.

I just didn't think it was necessary to go into all the details of what might happen because it could take me hours to explain it all... and likely a huge number of the people reading it wouldn't understand or care anyway since they'll never be involved with it.

So, the best advice I could give the OP is to get a good lawyer who knows how this stuff works. Things like appraisals, challenging the State's offer, and stuff like that can come later if necessary.

I don't understand how you came to that conclusion. My comments fully acknowledged that a before-and-after appraisal could conceivably be done. However since the OP described this as potentially a very small taking, it seems unlikely that it would result in the type of impacts which would justify such an appraisal method. My comments were based primarily on the OP describing this as a very small taking. Here's some of the relevant things that I wrote:

Originally Posted by jackmichigan

Usually the appraisal would just value the land. Price per acre is the most common measurement, apportioned accordingly. Theoretically, a before-and-after valuation of the entire property could be conducted--with the difference being the amount of compensation--but that is a much more involved appraisal process and I doubt that it would be used for a simple taking of a small amount of land. (However, specifics matter.)

Originally Posted by jackmichigan

Eminent domain laws--and more importantly, practices--vary by state...as well as by County and local municipality in some areas.

Originally Posted by jackmichigan

In the majority of condemnation cases, I believe that oldtrader is correct: the landowner is compensated for the value of the land being taken. While I do agree that there can be unique circumstances whereby a small taking will render a more significant change in value, those situations seem to be rather rare. As with everything involving real estate, the details will matter.

Assuming that the OP is correct in the amount that is to be taken (and, of course, that needs to be verified), that means that only about 2.3% of her land will be taken. Depending especially on the configuration of the lot, it is unlikely that such a small taking will result in a more major reduction in value.

Due to my experience in this area, I frankly didn't feel a need to do further research through a Google search. Besides, your link to a quote from a lawyer in Washington state--which was obviously specific to his local area--is in no way universally definitive. Practices in Michigan aren't universal either, but the overall concept that a landowner in this country is supposed to receive just compensation is. The appraisal methods for determining the amount of that compensation are not.

I doubt that this back-and-forth is helpful to the OP, so this is "over-and-out".

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by Janet33

Again I am taking about a small portion of land, so small that paying a lawyer is not feasible. How would the process work WITHOUT a lawyer or appraisal?

Originally Posted by NORTY FLATZ

You'd be "taken advantage of."

Of course, that is not necessarily true. OP: it's good that you are investigating this topic and even looking into the possibility of using a lawyer or an appraiser. However, at this point, I think that your best course of action is to simply wait and see what the City ends up offering. They should be able to inform you of the process involved and whether they even offer financial assistance for you to seek your own counsel (even though unlikely). Once you know the amount of money which may be involved, you can decide whether it's in your financial interest to seek legal counsel or even an alternate appraisal. They may have some room to negotiate without you going that extra mile. If you feel the need for assistance in evaluating their offer, there may be a free legal aid society which could be of assistance or some local real estate brokers who would be willing to offer their opinion as to whether they think the payment is adequate. In the end, it will be your judgment call. Let us know if and when you receive an offer.