Habitat for Hermanity: Your Real Estate Infotainment...Where Housing Hilarity Ensues! San Francisco Bay Area Realtor Herman Chan

Ask The Expert: ‘A new house is blocking my view – Can I do anything?’

3/22/2011

Hey Hermanity Fans!
Here's my latest column for LogoOnline's 365gay site. Buying a house w/ a view? It might not be there forever. Views aren't guaranteed. Read why in my new column for "Ask The Expert"

This poor guy in Long Island comes home from college to find a monstrous McMansion erected next door. Aside from being an eye-sore, it totally blocks his view! I break it down for this viewer here.

3 Comments

rob smith

3/22/2011 07:08:13 am

I feel for this guy. I lived in the northeast side of chicago in an 8 story building, this was on the fringes of the city not downtown. I moved into the place because I had a perfect view facing west unabstructed. but then not a month later they started building this godawful condo building, floor by floor my view disappeared. when finished it looked like a russian prison. i took some satisfaction in knowing that they finished construction in september of 08…. then the market collapsed shortly after and the lost 3/4 of there commercial and residential tenants. want a garunteed unabstructed view? move to montana.

tigergwm

3/22/2011 07:34:23 pm

Herman,

Have a million house next door does not increase the value of the house. I have know several location where house has the million dollar view and next door, house without million dollar view, is half price different especially on waterfront without public access. You better tell John to get re-appraise his house to get tax property reduce, because he lost the million dollar view and save the money on tax.

Deaf Wildfirefox.

herman link

3/22/2011 07:45:02 pm

@tigergwm thanks for the re-appraisal suggestion for John. that certainly can be an option if the view lost was substantial. it really depends what kind of view was blocked. John only mentions it was a slice of sky, which is a far cry from a million dollar view on private waterfront. And as for reducing the tax, re-assessing the value downward is not going to be easy based on just one factor of view. They will ask for several comps within a certain timeframe to justify a tax reduction. sq ft, size, lot, price, condition typically take precedence of view. but like you said, if it is a special community of waterfront/million dollar views, then John may have a fighting chance. Thanks for the comment tigergwm!

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Ask The Expert: ‘A new house is blocking my view – Can I do anything?’

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