Waddell can require more than a nearest-sale search when the assignment is tied to a date of death. Waddell sits where rural acreage and expanding West Valley subdivisions meet. The assignment starts by fixing the date of death and then reconstructing the property and competitive market as they existed then.
The valuation question belongs to the date of death, even if the property is inspected and the report is written later. Comparable sales, listings, market conditions, and the subject's condition should be organized around that historical date rather than today's market. For Waddell, the appraisal should consider horse/acreage utility only when it changes the subject's competitive position.
When the value date is the date of death, later roads, schools, services, and subdivisions can shift buyer expectations after the effective date. On a date-of-death assignment, the feature matters because it can change which sales actually represent the subject's market.
On the date of death, the correct comp set follows density, site utility, and buyer motivation. That distinction belongs in the appraisal only to the extent buyers recognized it on the historical effective date.
The property observed now may not be the property that existed when the owner died. Renovations, deferred maintenance, additions, pools, roof work, site changes, or a changed use should be assigned to the historical property only when the evidence supports doing so.
When the home changed after the death, older photographs, listings, permits, invoices, and ownership records can be more useful than today's appearance. The goal is to resolve material differences between the home as it exists now and the home that existed on the date of death.
A supported date-of-death conclusion should be explainable from the historical property condition, competitive market, and sales evidence without relying on today's value or a later transaction.
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