Expert category
Residential real estate expert witnesses
Homes have the deepest pool of comparable sales of any property type, which makes the before value straightforward and throws almost all the disagreement into what the taking did to the remainder.
Scope
The questions this expert answers
What was the house worth
Sales comparison, which for residential property is usually sufficient and rarely contested.
What is it worth next to the project
The after value, answerable with sales of comparable houses similarly positioned on similar roads.
What did the screening contribute
Mature planting that cannot be replaced for twenty years contributes more than a schedule of nursery prices suggests.
Is the septic or well affected
Removing a drain field or reserve area is far more consequential than its area suggests.
Does the driveway still work
Grade, sight distance and winter usability, which are engineering questions feeding the valuation.
What about moving costs
Not part of the valuation. Relocation assistance is a separate statutory programme.
Selection
What to check before engaging
| Criterion | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Certification | Certified residential or general appraiser, with condemnation assignments |
| Local market | Active in this submarket, not a neighbouring county |
| Remainder analysis | Looks for sales of comparable houses similarly affected, rather than concluding no loss |
| Site knowledge | Asks about septic, wells, drainage and winter access rather than valuing from the road |
| Testimony | Can explain a proximity effect to a jury without overstating it |
| Independence | No contingent fee and no conflict on the corridor |
In practice
The contested figure is always the after value
A house that was forty feet from a two lane road and is now eighteen feet from a four lane road is a different product in the market. The question is how much less buyers will pay for it, and that is answerable with evidence rather than opinion: sales of comparable houses similarly positioned.
Where an appraisal concludes no loss without looking for that evidence, it has assumed the answer rather than found it. That is the finding an appraisal review exists to make.
Listed experts
Experts in this category
The directory is being built. Experts practising in this category can write to editorial@eminentdomainexpertwitness.com. Listing is free, requires evidence of credentials and condemnation experience, and is not sold.
In the meantime, how to find an expert sets out the four routes that reach the same population, and the questions worth asking before you engage anyone.
Questions about this category
The road will be much closer to my house
Classic severance damage, and usually real. It is measured against market evidence rather than by a rule of thumb.
What about the trees they are removing
Valued through their contribution to the property, not as replacement nursery stock.
My home is worth more to me than market value
Almost certainly, and that difference is excluded by definition. Relocation assistance addresses some of the practical cost of moving.
Related
Other categories
Eminent Domain
The primary category. Valuation and testimony in condemnation and just compensation disputes, covering every discipline a taking can put in issue.
Real Estate Appraisal
Certified appraisers who value property for condemnation rather than for lending, working to USPAP and, on federally assisted projects, the Yellow Book.
Fair Market Value
Opinions on what the market would have paid at the valuation date, under the legal definition rather than a general sense of worth.
Real Estate Damages
Diminution in value, severance damages, cost to cure, lost rent and the loss that remains after a proposed cure.
Land Use and Zoning
Entitlement probability, zoning compliance after a taking, and whether the remainder can still be developed for the use it was valued on.
Land Surveying
Boundaries, easements, encroachments, right of way plans and the survey evidence a partial taking turns on.
The right expert is the one whose field actually covers the dispute
Start from what is contested, not from a list of names. The category pages explain which discipline answers which question.