And, no surprise to me, I can't seem to help but stumble across more examples of..... hmmm, I don't even know what to call it. Incompetence? Delusion? Or perhaps something more nefarious in nature, like.... Collusion? I'll present the data and you can decide yourself.
So let me start by showing you another curious scenario. This is the type of example where I start to suspicion that there's something more nefarious in nature with some of these scenarios.
Below is the bottom portion of a "comparable sales" sheet for a property in west county. This property sold in 2014 for $535,000. Clearly, at that price, it's neither a small nor inexpensive property. In spite of selling for $535k in 2014, more than 5 years ago, and in a reassessment year when Mr. Zimmerman claims home values have jumped on average 15%, this property seems immune to the reassessment woes that some of us have experienced in great quantity.
If you look at the Cost Value for each of the the comparable properties, notice that the subject property is the most expensive of the properties, and more expensive by far than at least two of the others. However, thanks to the magic and wonder that is the St. Louis County assessor's office, this property is not only valued (Market Value Estimate) at less than it sold for 5 years ago, but less than all of the other comps used to determine the assessed value, even though the Cost Value Estimate is the highest. In fact, its assessed value is more than $120k below it's Cost Value Estimate. No other comp in the list varies this much.
I'm also curious about the third comp. I'd like to know what adjustments needed to be made on a sale of a property from 2016 that warranted an adjustment in sale price of almost $100k. Seems like if the house is that different that it requires that much "adjusting," then perhaps the county needs to pick a better comp.
Except.... it actually IS a good comp. It's located on the lot immediately next-door. It was built the same year by the same builder, same-sized lot, same number of bedrooms and baths, etc. So now I really want to know the reason for the $100k adjustment....
Sure, a couple of the other houses indicate a remodel date, which might account for some of the undisclosed "adjustments." But what about the subject property? If you read the realtor description, there are "TONS of updates," including things like granite counter-tops, stainless steel appliances, and remote-control window blinds. Why isn't there a remodel date on the subject property?
Further, if you look at the property description online, for some reason, the drawing for this property is "unavailable."
This whole property scenario is fishy.
No comments:
Post a Comment