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Like I said before Gabz, even blind squirrels find nuts on occassion.

I have been in markets where you could put up a shack full of dog crap and people would pay you more than your asking, and I have seen that same market fall 40% in six months! I have been in markets that decline and in markets that flatline.

You are right I don't operate in deleware, which is why your "reality" really doesn't mean squat to me... if property values shot up in the time between your neighbors sale and yours your not proving anything. If your neighbors sale was under duress, unemployment, debt problems, divorce or facing foreclosure, then they would likely have sold for less than any other unit on the block. Simply stating I got what I asked and it was more than my neighbor got doesn't prove squat.

I have bought houses for less than 40% of their value, does that mean that the guy 3 doors down who got his asking prices house is worth more than the one I bought? Hell no, it just means he was not as motivated to sell as the seller I bought from. I know you won't believe this, but I know people who have literally had homes GIVEN to them by desperate owners.. just up and deeded to them on the spot and walked away without even getting $1 from the buyer.

Your 1 sale vs 1 other sale in 1 instant in time, doesn't portray in any meaningful way a valid arguement. Without knowing the exact specifics of the sales, blind comparisons based on well my neighbor sold for XXX... WHO CARES.. that doesn't mean anything.

I can sell a house easily for 10% more than it should sell for by giving my buyer good terms on the sale, and you know what, even an appraisor will recognize my terms ADDED value to the house and justify the sales price without any problem, even if no other house around it sold for my Sq. Ft price... I can also just as easily get a house for 20-30-40-50 or even 60% less than its appraised value but that doesn't mean its only worth 40% of its appraised value against my neighbors home... if it did, then ever time I bought a house I'd be dropping property values... which isn't the case, in fact I usually end up raising values when I go in and buy a property.

Go try and fight your assessment armed with nothing more than "my neighbors house sold for less than what you have me assessed at" and see how far that will get you.. absolutely NOWHERE.

I am glad you got your asking price, really I am... but don't think for one minute your two little data points prove a greater point.

HamiltonJay squeals in post 266, "I can also just as easily get a house for 20-30-40-50 or even 60% less than its appraised value but that doesn't mean its only worth 40% of its appraised value against my neighbors home... if it did, then ever time I bought a house I'd be dropping property values... which isn't the case, in fact I usually end up raising values when I go in and buy a property."

Jeez, gotta love it when someone shoots their own argument in the foot.

Remember this which you wrote a few short moments ago in post 237, "Your using myth to make argument. Assessments have nothing to do with home values. Assessments like appraisals are just what someone subjectively believes a property would sell for. The only thing that determines the true value of a property is when it sells, everything else is pure conjecture."

Well, which is it?!?

And your arrogance continues.

At least you admit you know nothing about real estate in Delaware.

The major point, as I was attempting to show, about posting this article is the cronyism and corruption in the real estate industry in Delaware. I was attacked from the get go and unable to put forth the rest of my points, which everyone has ignored in favor of just knocking smokers, including yourself.

I never said I disagreed with your averages, I just said my reality was not the same as yours. You kept refering to reality, I gave you mine. Reality is not averages.

The real estate industry in Delaware is rife with corruption and it is very obvious about how properties in certain areas are marketed. Unfortunately for me the agency/agent I had signed with was bought up by one of the most corrupt agencies in the state, while I was still under contract. I had known for years about that agency and would never have willingly gone under contract with them.

As I stated in another post, I worked in real estate law, I know which agents/agencies were on the up and up and which were playing the line, and which crossed it.

Do I have a bad taste about realtors in Delaware? Not really. There are a few that give the rest a very bad name, and the problem is that the ones that are crooked are among the biggest ones. Unfortunatley for me one of them was the first one I was stuck with for quite some time.

As to your comments about assessments, I've got no clue what you are talking about, because I never mentioned it. I was talking about selling prices not appraisals or assessments.

This article only shows more of how the mega-buck anti-smoker cartel is finding further ways to demonize and denormalize smokers. Had this article been about pet woners there would never have been the venom expressedon this thread. In fact the thread would have probably died after about 30 posts.

Smokers are the PC whipping boys and when they are being attacked, everyone comes out of the woodwork.