Jacksonville example cited in NYT article on Appraisal Discrimination

[vicupstate]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/realestate/blacks-minorities-appraisals-discrimination.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[thelakelander]

From personal experience, I agree with this 100%.

[JeffreyS]

I knew rates were discriminated with how race was distributed by neighborhood but by house with an appraisal wow. 

[marcuscnelson]

Yay, Jacksonville getting national attention for the worst possible reasons again! Hooray!

[Captain Zissou]

$330k was definitely too low.  It's 2,500 square feet on a half acre lot in a decent neighborhood.  That said, it's not in old Ortega (Ortega Terrace), it's in Ortega Forest which is more mixed in terms of home quality/upkeep than across Roosevelt.  When it was last sold for $300k in 2017 it was in need of SERIOUS work.  There also aren't many solid comps in the area.  I'd be very curious to see the two appraisals to know what comps were used for each valuation and what valuation method was used since sales comps are so weak.

Having not seen the interior in its current state, I have no idea what the real value should be.  That kind of spread between two appraisals is very curious though. I will defer to Musicman when he weighs in with his expert opinion.

[jaxlongtimer]

I read this article and don't doubt its points.  But, it was also interesting to read in the comments what people of all stripes had to say about their own experiences with appraisers.  Let's just say the profession may be viewed as even worse than politicians or lawyers  .

As someone noted, it is called the "art of appraising" allowing for much discretion and bias by the appraiser with no professional oversight or regulation and resulting in potentially widely varying results depending on who is doing the appraising.

One thing I have noted is appraisers usually fail to fully take into account or properly value less objective factors related to emotions, quality of life, aesthetics, risk to future use of the property, etc.  Examples might include quality of interior finishes, the view, being on a corner lot or busy street, landscaping appeal, quality of the street-scape (e.g. sidewalks, shade trees, etc.), access to parks and public transportation, drainage or flooding issues, degree of privacy, condition of the contiguous properties, potential for future adjacent development, noise, light pollution, traffic patterns, etc.  I have often seen two very similar houses in a subdivision sell for substantially different prices for these reasons but unless one toured both of them, it would not be obvious from data posted on a real estate listing or the tax rolls.

[bl8jaxnative]

That story is not journalism.  Nothing has been done to verify the claims of those people.    Running a piece without that isn't news, it's gossip.

[MusicMan]

Can someone post the address?

[Captain Zissou]

Dude.  It has the homeowner's name and you should already know the zip code... 

If you can't find it, then turn in your license.

[MusicMan]

Thanks Capt. On occasion I forget how brilliant I am.