What you don't know about your neighbor's home COULD hurt you

I recently completed an inspection for an appraisal of a home in my county.  The home was a typical block ranch with needed updates to the flooring, painting, etc.  But the home itself was pretty typical of the area.

The neighbor's home had a fence around it and all seemed just fine to me at the inspection.  All the homes had similar appeal to the area, etc.

Then I pulled the satellite maps from the county assessor's office:

So do you think this would have any impact on the value of YOUR home if you lived next door?  The amazing thing is, you cannot see any of this from the street.   All of these vehicles (if they are still there) are behind a very high fence.  But, as confirmed from both the county's maps and www.maps.live.com - this is the way the neighbor's yard looks in the back of that home.

Now I do not have any data to suggest that this has a known impact on a buyer's perception for the adjacent home.  But sure enough, this would be a BIG concern to the lender making the loan for purchase - should there be some environmental impact.

Can you say leaking gasoline into nearby septic tanks?  Luckily the area has county water services so no wells exist for drinking water. 

So if you plan to buy a new home in a densely populated neighborhood - pull some satellite images or go visiting before you take out that new purchase loan!  It could save you some disputes in the future!

Just another reason to be sure your appraiser is using current technology tools!

Make it a productive day