A Date of Death appraisal in Melbourne Village asks what the subject was worth on the day the owner died, not what a similar property might bring today. Because wooded sites need site-utility comparison and very limited turnover requires a disciplined wider search can place homes in different buyer markets, the historical comparable set should be built around the subject's actual competitive position at death.
The effective date is the date the owner died, not the current inspection date. In Melbourne Village, wooded sites need site-utility comparison can change which sales represent the subject, so the appraisal should establish whether that condition or location feature actually existed at death before relying on it.
Tree cover, privacy, lot shape, drainage, usable yard, access, and improvement placement can distinguish properties with similar gross lot area. The date-of-death analysis should reflect the buyer reaction to that feature when the owner died.
A more distant sale can be stronger evidence when it matches the same density, site character, housing quality, and buyer profile. Search expansion should be explained rather than hidden. Its contribution belongs in the historical value only if it was present and recognized by buyers on the date of death.
A sale inside a much larger surrounding city may not capture the same low-density setting, municipal identity, mature landscape, or street character that buyers associated with Melbourne Village. The date-of-death analysis should reflect the buyer reaction to that feature when the owner died.
A later Melbourne Village sale may reflect remodeling, a different neighborhood setting, or market movement. It can be considered as history, but the date-of-death conclusion should be independently supported by sales and property evidence from the decedent's market period.
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