When you don't think the valuation that you paid for is accurate you can spend some time and effort yourself to validate the results.

If you have an interest, and you have been watching the reports and articles on the vacant land market in Las Vegas you likely have come away confused.  Here are some interesting facts that you, as an appraiser, buyer or seller may want to consider:

After the Savings and Loan crash in the late 1980's, appraiser licensing was put into place in 1991 by the federal government in an attempt to avert another banking disaster.  Here we are, however, in 2009 with a much larger banking disaster to deal with.  So clearly the original plan for appraiser licensing has ended in failure.

As it becomes more and more difficult to find comparable vacant land sales in the Las Vegas market, due to decreasing sales volumes, some appraisers have turned to past sales.  The selection of past vacant land sales is, however, frought with a number of potential problems.

Most appraisal assignments direct the appraiser to form an opinion of the market value of a specific property. If you are familiar with appraisal definitions you know that most market value definitions indicate that market value is the “most probable price” that a market participant will pay for a property. So in most instances appraisers have to consider value as an anticipation of future benefits.

Individuals buy and sell real property in metropolitan Las Vegas and often they do not consider the potential impact of a right-of-way grant made several years earlier within a U.S. Patent that initially conveyed the property into private ownership. Since Patent conveyances can be recent or over 50 years old, a grant can often show up as a small blurb on the Exceptions page of a title insurance policy.

Appraisers try to compare properties using uniform measurements, and area is an important physical characteristic of a property compared when land or buildings are analyzed.  Land area comparisons appear to be simplistic, until you consider why parcels sizes vary.

The market for vacant land in Las Vegas went through a period like the one described in 2008. In 2009, however, brokers anticipate only vulture buyers looking for 50% or larger discounts will be in the market. Developer buyers evaporated from the market in 2007.

Entitlement / approvals gained by developers during the development process may or may not significantly add value to the project's land or site. Appraisers often conclude that entitlements are not the most important factors affecting value.