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We show up to court with my appraisal that said he should be compensated $8,000, and that is what the special commissioners awarded.
HTown,
I'm curious. Did the landowner bother to show up with his own appraisal from an MAI Appraiser, or did he just bring a dumb look on his face? If the latter, I guess he got what was coming to him.
My problem with these Special Commissioners' hearings in general is that you can present them with (2) very different appraisals (both from MAI appraisers in many cases), and the Commissioners really have no particular real estate market expertise to discern which one is more sound. Thus, they're apt to just 'split the difference'. Splitting the difference can, in the case of larger awards, be a significant sum of money.
I really wish under Texas law that the Special Commissioners were required to have real estate brokers licenses, and that the fee they earn for their services should be payed by the condemner.
I realize that E.D. reform failed miserably in the last legislative session. Maybe next time my suggestion will be thrown in the ring, along with the idea that the condemner should pay (up to a reasonable amount, of course) for the landowner's appraisal (from an appraiser the landowner selects).
Obviously, my bias is toward the landowner, as I was in the crosshairs of a condemner a couple of years ago and was lucky to have escaped unscathed. But, it sure got me thinking.