My New Blog

Greetings All:
 
Like most of you, we are into the winter months, and shortly the holidays will be upon us.  I retired in July from NJDOT as a Staff Reviewer and Appraiser. I took a few months off to gather my thoughts and relax a little. I have been doing condemnation work since 2004 and have found it interesting and exciting. I have learned a lot and become a better appraiser because of the job. I have testified on my appraisals, along with reviewing others. The review process is one where you learn about appraising via a different set of eyes. Especially when you are fortunate enough to work with some of the top professionals in your field and learn from them; they are very professional and have been in the business for years.  
During the Thanksgiving weekend, a friend who is a contractor and invest in properties had me look at a property for him. It was for fun, and both were interested in having some fun. It had a small 2 bedroom and 2 bath unit on a rather large site. Upon viewing it on Zillow there were nearly a thousand views, and it was a pending sale at one point. After which they increased the sales price. With a quick look at a few sales, I found it interesting that it appears to be one of these overpriced listings.
 For starters, its location wasn't the most desirable even though it had a stream and was surrounded by woods. Some personal property was scattered on the property even though the listing stated it would be removed. The major issue was it had an easement to get to the property. Of course, without the easement, the property would be worth very little and would be considered landlocked. It appears there is no development potential either.
 My whole point here is that the owner most likely did not have an appraisal completed and it might have helped them with a few of these issues. Surely some realtors are not familiar with easements either or the highest and best use of the land.
 Please, by all means, if you have some challenging real estate problems, I would be more than happy to look into them.                                                                  
 
  Call or text me at 609-203-1194 or email: raymondunderhill@gmail.com

I am currently working on an assignment down in South Jersey were vacant commercial land sales are rare.  Land unlike which most of us think is easy to appraise. Its is far from that and challenges your appraisal skills.  Unlike most residential appraisers who just check it off the box on a form. Highest and Best use of the land is critical.   That is where our skills and knowledge come in as an appraiser.   What type of improvement can be put on this site?  Retail shopping mall or a small roofing business.  This can be a real challenge finding those vacant land sales in hard pressed areas. There is little commercial business in some areas to begin with.  Then to find the perfect sale for your subject property is a challenge.  Similar size and zoning not alone in a similar location.    I had to reach throughout the county for sales and those sales were not very similar.  There is where the adjustment process comes in and experience.  Paired Sales?  Your lucky to find similar sales.    This is the type of appraising that has challenged my skills and continues to make me a better appraiser.   You pay for my experience and knowledge.  Do you want someone with experience and knowledge handing your valuation issue?  Please give me a call. I hope we can work together.  Thank you for visiting my site.