A couple of days ago, the New Hartford Central School District decided to put the "appraisal" for 29 Oxford Road on their website, probably because that was one of the items that Mr. Wiatr FOILed.
According to the handout the school has been passing out:
The property is being conveyed for lower than its appraised value.Problem is...the school hasn't made an appraisal available...it's a Broker's Price Opinion.
According to The Free Dictionary:
Broker Price Opinion
An estimation of the value of a property by a real estate broker. A broker price opinion may take into account the quality of the property, values of surrounding properties and market conditions in the area. However, the estimation is not as detailed or as definitive as a full appraisal. A BPO may be done at the request of a bank when the owner of the property is attempting to refinance a loan or when it is attempting to find an alternative to foreclosure. It also may be done to help a seller determine the best asking price for his/her property.
We have no way of knowing why Mr. Brown only provided a Broker's Price Opinion for this property, but we can say with certainty that it is not a recently done Broker's Price Opinion.
Here's the "appraisal" [and we use that word loosely only because that is what New Hartford Central School wants taxpayers to believe it is...] that was posted on the school district' website.
Notice the cover letter addressed to New Hartford Central School and signed by John Brown of Caldwell Banker. It clearly states that it is a Broker's Price Opinion.
Also, oddly enough; there is no date on the cover letter.
However, one thing gives away the date of this Broker's Price Opinion. Look at the bottom of each of the MLS Listings...they were date-stamped as being printed August 13, 2010!! That would mean that this Broker's Opinion is almost two year's old. There is no way this broker's opinion was done to justify the current asking price.
Now why would a Broker's Opinion be addressed to New Hartford School District in 2010 when it supposedly was Ms. Romano's company that bought the property in 2010?
We did a spreadsheet of the properties that are included in Mr. Brown's price opinion using the information on the MLS listing included with the Broker's Price Opinion.
To view a larger version of this spreadsheet, click here!
Interesting choices...two commercial properties and one residential property [one bought by a local realtor, one bought by the same realtor to convert to some kind of commercial business and the third, 71 Oxford Road, bought after a 3,200 sq.ft. addition was added]. Usually, appraisals don't mix commercial and residential properties...how can an analysis of market value be ascertained when the uses are different?
According to the MLS listing for 71 Oxford Road:
EXQUISITE!! COMPLETE RE-MODEL PLUS 3200 SQUARE FT ADDITION IN THIS 4 BDRM, 3 BATH Village Home. It will leave you breathless. THIS Dream Home boasts 2 STALL TANDEM 30X30 GARAGE. cherry kitchen, gorgeous woodwork, 4 zone gas boiler, Central air., Vinyl Fencing, Basketball Court. Deck, much, much more!We'd like to see the adjusted values when using 71 Oxford Road for comparison purposes for a "real appraisal" for 29 Oxford Road!
We also verified the sales information using the Town of New Hartford online assessment database. Everything matched, except, we found no sale on April 17, 2008 for 132 Oxford Road in the assessment database. In fact, we found no 2008 sale on that property. Perhaps the sale didn't pan out...we don't know.
At any rate, according to the town's assessment database, there were only two (2) sales for 132 Oxford Road; one on August 1, 1990 for $150,000 and the most recent on April 12, 2011 for $107,500.
If this Broker's Price Opinion was a current opinion, we doubt that Mr. Brown would have chosen the 2008 MLS sales sheet for 132 Oxford Road as a comparable since it sold for $107,500 in 2011 and that would represent the current market value to be used for appraisal purposes.
Our final questions today are:
Why would the school try to pass off a 2010 Broker's Price Opinion as an appraisal for a property they want to purchase in 2012?
Does Mr. Brown know that his 2010 Broker's Price Opinion is being distributed on the web and being touted as a valid appraisal to justify a 2012 purchase by the school district?
If this is such a good deal for New Hartford School District taxpayers, why is the school using misleading information?We're not done yet...stay tuned!
4 comments:
gOT THE BUDGET MAILER TODAY I think the district budget will breeze though as usual due to a lack of widespread info concerning the real estate purchases. The board ,administration,and attorneys have orchestrated a perfect cover up of the facts.
We have put the information online with more to follow.
Bottom line, it's up to the district taxpayers/voters to stop the insanity.
Anyone who doesn't take the time to vote...
Let's not forget that ever since the first block of Oxford rd starting getting "commercial"..it became more valuable. The broker also gave a range of value, not a definitive price. It also is opinion, albeit it by the long standing top agent in the area.It would seem that fee based appraiser should have been hired...from outside the area, the question is why do they need the building in the first place?
I am questioning the mailer and the plot of land they want to buy. Are they sure this is the plot shown? I had thought that they already owned it. They put a dirt barrier up at the request of the residents on Bohling. They mow it planted trees etc. Why did they maintain it? This was put in during the reconstruction project. This is a pretty small piece. To bad they don't have a specific use or purchase reason. Yeah sure!! Like the Bradley was built to support a third floor when needed.
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