Organizing condition and repair information to lower your value

How to organize your "condition issue" evidence when organizing your appeal packet.

Glenn Goodrich avatar
Written by Glenn Goodrich
Updated over a week ago

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When you are disputing the condition of your property you are saying...

  1. Your property is dated and needs some sort of updating.

  2. You have repair issues (i.e. you have a bad foundation, or need a new roof).

You must be able to verify the condition issue you are discussing that impacted the value of your property on January 1st. If, hypothetically, someone purchased your home on January 1st, they would have been aware of the issue either through a visual inspection or from an inspector's report.

Presenting condition issues works best if you supply photos and/or bids. When taking photos a common mistake we see is when someone zooms in so tight that the viewer cannot really tell what the photo is showing. Don't zoom in so tight that you cannot see the perspective of what you are trying to show in the photos. An example of this is when you zoom in so tight on a crack in the tile that you cannot see the big picture of how that crack looks when you enter the room.

Your property has not been updated

If your property is dated and needs updating the best thing you can do is take photos of the interior of your house as well as the exterior of the house. 

  1. Exterior -  Front view (taken from across the street)

  2. Exterior-  Back view (taken from your back fence so you can see the back yard and full extent of the back of the house)

  3. Exterior - Any other photos that show disrepair (i.e. cracks in driveway, rotting in siding, roof issues, etc.)

  4. Interior - Kitchen

  5. Interior - Living room (show fireplace if you have one)

  6. Interior - Master bathroom

  7. Interior - Any other photos that show disrepair (i.e. cracks in tile, cracks in ceiling or wall, etc.) 

You have repair issues

  1. Ideally you will have estimates from professionals that are dated and signed.

  2. Take photos of the issue(s).

After you have collected evidence (photos, repair estimates, etc.) you will want to write a quick summary of the issues in bullet points. Be sure and include the estimated cost (if you have that available). Total up all the costs and in the summary say what you think the total cost of all repairs will be.


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