Posted on 08/26/2020 12:29:42 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Abena and Alex Horton wanted to take advantage of low home-refinance rates brought on by the coronavirus crisis. So in June, they took the first step in that process, welcoming a home appraiser into their four-bedroom, four-bath ranch-style house in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Hortons live just minutes from the Ortega River, in a predominantly white neighborhood of 1950s homes that tend to sell for $350,000 to $550,000. They had expected their home to appraise for around $450,000, but the appraiser felt differently, assigning a value of $330,000. Ms. Horton, who is Black, immediately suspected discrimination.
The couple’s bank agreed that the value was off and ordered a second appraisal. But before the new appraiser could arrive, Ms. Horton, a lawyer, began an experiment: She took all family photos off the mantle. Instead, she hung up a series of oil paintings of Mr. Horton, who is white, and his grandparents that had been in storage. Books by Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison were taken off the shelves, and holiday photo cards sent by friends were edited so that only those showing white families were left on display. On the day of the appraisal, Ms. Horton took the couple’s 6-year-old son on a shopping trip to Target, and left Mr. Horton alone at home to answer the door.
The new appraiser gave their home a value of $465,000 — a more than 40 percent increase from the first appraisal.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Appraisers can vary wildly. I’ve had it happen to me - about $40K difference within about 3 months - no work done, nothing different.
Yep this sounds like manufactured outrage.
Yup. Maybe the guy is just incompetent and she should try another appraiser.
immediately suspected discrimination.
They would be happy if the Tax Office appraised it at the lower value.
The narrative must be advanced!
"Oh, your wife is black?
Please deduct $125,000 from that appraisal."
That’s not a valid experiment.
Appraisers can vary wildly and while it’s possible the first one might have been raciss the mere fact that she called out a 2nd appraiser and probs it invoked racism on the call could’ve meant the 2nd appraiser was ordered to give an above average appraisal.
You’re better off getting a detailed list of why the house was appraised lower than expected.
And I’ll bet that if the appraisal was for taxes, Mr. ans Ms. Horton would love the $300,000 figure.
Sorry, this is antecdotal and we cannot believe it until they have done a randomized double-blind study. Appraisers can differ in what data they consider. It is also possible that her husband was able to inform the appraiser of some upgrades that might raise the value of the home. I’m not sure why a random appraiser would want to harm a random couple by giving them an out of line appraisal. When all you have is a hammer, not every problem is a nail.
“immediately suspected discrimination.”
The moment they open their eyes in the morning they immediately suspect discrimination. It’s critical to their self-definition as victims.
The NYTimes wants a race war.
This proves absolutely nothing and in no way can this difference in appraisals be put down to discrimination. For that to even be considered the home would have had to be left exactly as it was when the first appraiser saw it.
Was the second appraisal done by the lender as the 1st one was or did the homeowner get his local bank to do the appraisal? Lots of unanswered questions here and besides we are dealing with the NYT.
So they’ll pay less in property taxes because the home was valued less?
If discrimination is paying less in taxes then sign me up for some!
What was the tax office appraisal?
“She took all family photos off the mantle. Instead, she hung up a series of oil paintings of Mr. Horton, who is white, and his grandparents that had been in storage. Books by Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison were taken off the shelves, and holiday photo cards sent by friends were edited so that only those showing white families were left on display.”
So, she ‘staged’ the house and the appraisal increased? A certain sign of racism.
“Appraisers can vary wildly.”
In my neighborhood, the houses can have upwards of $150,000 difference on Zillow for the same model. Some have had lots of remodeling, but not that much.
So is the lesson that we are supposed to take away from this story - Blacks in the neighborhood devalue the real estate?
There may be some huts for sale in Africa if they aren’t happy with the American way of doing things. Just saying.
Probably everyone has been unhappy with issues when buying homes at one time or another. Even white folks. Go figure. These people aren’t special.
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