Black couple’s home appraises for $500K more —when white pal poses as owner: settlement

NY Post ^ | 03/08/2023 | Andrew Court

[Angelino97]

I would rather live in an exclusively black conservative neighborhood ...

Does such a neighborhood exist?

[rellic]

“I’d rather live next to a black conservative than a white liberal.”
Amen, brother!

[Yo-Yo]

Paul Austin and Tenisha Tate-Austin’s four-bedroom residence in swanky Sausalito, near San Francisco, was valued at $998,000 by Janette Miller, co-owner of Miller and Perotti Real Estate Appraisers. That figure was $455,000 lower than an appraisal done for a prior mortgage refinance in 2019

Yet another "something bad happened to me, so it must be because I'm black."

An alternate view would be that the appraiser was incompetent.

One appraiser in 2019 correctly valued the home, and the second 2023 appraiser for the "white" friend correctly valued the home.

I think it's more likely that Janette Miller is not very good at her job, or made an honest mistake when performing comparisons of similar home sales for the appraisal.

But racism sells, I suppose.

[rellic]

Rwanda.

[cableguymn]

I’d rather my nearest neighbor be in the next zip code. But yours is my second choice.

[Right Brother]

Doubtful, but I have a Scott Adams attitude toward liberal white women. They are the worst. A vile cancer on our nation.

[American Infidel]

Unless it was the same appraiser that gave both appraisals, how is this even an issue? One appraiser had one opinion and another appraiser had a different opinion on the valuation.

This whole premise is insane. Appraiser "A" gives an appraisal of X. Appraiser "B" comes by at a later date and gives an appraisal of X + 50%. How does this prove any malfeasance or "racism"?

You can look up analyst recommendations for various publicly traded companies and see multiple price targets or valuations for those companies. Are these differences of opinion of the value of those assets based on some sort of "racism"?

[1Old Pro]

I’d rather my nearest neighbor be in the next zip code.

I'm happy with a 250-350 foot buffer or so.

[cableguymn]

I’m not.

[LouAvul]

I'm assuming it was not the same appraiser in both instances. Different appraisers have different criteria. As a former realtor, I knew of cases where the appraisers wouldn't even go to the property. They'd simply appraise it from it's description and then run the comps.

Then, I knew some appraisers who would go to the property, do a walk around, etc.

Maybe this had nothing to do with race.

[American Infidel]

Turns out it was the same appraiser. Shame on me for not reading the whole article first.

Although the 'racism' claim is still ridiculous and tough to prove, there clearly was incompetence on the part of the appraisal company for not realizing that they had appraised the same house twice within weeks, so they opened the door for a frivolous lawsuit for not at least examining why they appraised the house differently just weeks apart.

I imagine the out-of-court settlement was less than fighting it and hiring attorneys, etc.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Short answer: CA real estate. Capable of unbelievable pricing.

A Sausalito address could be worth $600K just for the empty lot. But you cannot simply place (say) a $500K house on such a lot. That it is built and permitted (I assume) is likely about a $150K proposition before a single nail is driven. A sewer connection, even on a house burned to the ground (or never having been built in the first place) could be a $75K affair.

I partially handled a bungalow house in Fremont, which is a fairly boring town near the bottom of the SF Bay. Maybe 1400 sq feet, in a barely working class neighborhood, 2 bedroom, hardly upgraded since the 60’s, cottage cheese ceilings, fake brick and all. Landscaping thrashed and neglected. But it is a reasonable commute across the Dumbarton bridge to Silicon Valley and it went for $850K 48 hours from being placed on the market.
https://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Dumbarton-Bridge-San-Francisco-Bay-California

[Night Hides Not]

Is there such a thing?

[CurlyDave]

...I'm having trouble seeing this as worth one and a half million:...

In Sausalito it is. Depending on the view it could go a lot higher.

[nesnah]

What this tells me is that liberals are willing to pay $500,000 dollars more in order to not live near black people.

---

That’s some pretty sound logic.

[FoxInSocks]

The Austins purchased the home for $550,000 in 2016 . . . .

Several years after purchasing the home, the Austins decided to have it appraised, with an expert saying it was worth around $890,000.

The couple subsequently decided to renovate the home, which was built in the 1960s, pouring more than $400,000 into an overhaul, adding an entirely new level, as well as a new deck, a fireplace and flashy new appliances.

When Jeanette Miller came to value the home in 2020 they were confident the home would be worth well over $1 million and were stunned by her $998,000 figure. . . .

The home was reappraised at $1.48 million — roughly $500,000 more than it was valued at just weeks prior.

Well, you don't normally get more than 1:1 return on your home improvements. But I guess if you claim racism, the ROI is better.

[1Old Pro]

Who cares what it is “appraised” for unless you are borrowing against it. It’s “worth” what somebody will pay you for it.

[bort]

Non-existent racism again and again.

[CurlyDave]

...I think it's more likely that Janette Miller is not very good at her job, or made an honest mistake when performing comparisons of similar home sales for the appraisal...

As much as I am wanting to go with "incompetent appraiser" the punishment is just, despite arriving at it through the wrong route. So the world is in balance.

[FamiliarFace]

When we were applying for a loan for our current house, we met the appraiser. Our races were reversed from this story, and he gave us a lower value than we expected, though, not by a large amount, just $30K or so. Never figured it out, but we had no choice. It’s who the lending agency sent.