Is your property the scene of a famous murder? Or perhaps a group suicide? Andrew Khouri profiles Randall Bell, a specialist real estate appraiser, who'll estimate just how much that "doom-and-gloom" is going to hurt your bottom line.
"[Bell's] caseload is ripped from the headlines: Nicole Brown Simpson's Brentwood condo; the Rancho Santa Fe mansion where 39 Heaven's Gate cult members committed suicide; JonBenet Ramsey's house in Colorado; the World Trade Center site; properties damaged in the Rodney King riots and by Hurricane Katrina," writes Khouri.
"Oftentimes, Bell's clients don't care about property damage — any appraiser could handle that. What they want is some clue about how long their house will remain stigmatized. Should they sell now? Maybe rent it out? Sell later?"
"Bell leans on 20-plus years of disaster appraisals and research to give clients reports — sometimes 100 pages thick, packed with details on the property's problematic history, cases studies of similar troubles and, ultimately, his conclusion."
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Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont