Written by John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog.
A new round of questions, smart-aleck replies, and the real answers.
Question: How did the Buncombe County employees that calculated the new real estate appraisals earlier this year miss the mark so badly? Shortly before the new appraisal values were released, we had discussed what our house could sell for with three area real estate agents. All three gave us the same price range, with a difference of $30,000 from the low end to the high end. The new appraised value was more than $150,000 above the top end of the range, and when we sold the house it got a few thousand dollars over the top end of the range. Were the people who did the appraisals in fantasyland when they came up with their numbers? How many appeals have they received to the new valuations? I filed one on March 30 and received a reply back that they had 60 days to respond, but never heard from them again. Guessing they are swamped with appeals…