Wake County is a much of criminals

[coltank]

Originally Posted by tee-tee

I also have to wonder how much this land would be worth had this area not grown at all, or more specifically if North Raleigh had not grown. If suburbia didn't encroach upon this land, what would it be worth?

Is the gub'mint's offer more than what your friend could have realized had there been no growth?

Excellent point. IT also may not be worth much if eminent domain had not caused I-540.

[chemteacher]

My hometown wanted land that belonged to my family church in order to widen a road. They wanted to give the church $40,000 for the land which was way below the cost of land in that neighborhood. The church hired a lawyer and was able to get $180,000 for the land. They just had to show what other land in the area was being sold for and they easily got more money.
If the land is truely worth more, I'd hire a lawyer.

[lamishra]

Yes, hire a lawyer and tell your friend to research and back up his requests for a certain amount of money with comps and DATA. I'm not a fan of ED at all, in fact I think it stinks, but there are always two sides to a story and we're only hearing one. A property being up for sale for over 5 years with no settlement sort of seems like someone may *never* be happy with the price. Prices for real estate fluctuate from year year, even month to month, so an offer a year ago is not necessarily the same as now.
Get your friend to hire a real estate attorney if he really thinks he's being had.

[Petunia16]

My grandfather owns a huge trailer park under a dam. The government stepped in, a la eminent domain, to widen the dam and he got OVER what it was worth. I believe he had a lawyer though, so good advice. Tell your friend to get some help!

Once again... I think ED is unfair in most cases. But in this case, I agree with most of the responses. If it was for sale anyway, and it was up for over 5 years, perhaps he got fair market value? Since nationwide the values are going to dip, maybe it was good timing?

I was wondering what NC natives thought of all this progress... McMansions down the road from old farm houses. The population of the world is only going to grow... cash out and enjoy I guess?