Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/174531
FEED Back A storied intersection I was so tickled to see the piece on Story Avenue ("Crossroads") in the August issue. The redbrick house in the middle of that neat picture belonged to my great-uncle and great-aunt, Curtis and Mary Lee Inman. They lived there from their 1934 marriage until they both died in 1979. It was painted white back then, and I remember as a kid in the mid-1970s seeing it on the WLKY news one night after a semi had failed to make the left turn onto Story and hit it. Thanks for the memories! John Boyd Louisville Appraising the West End www.nanzkraf.com www.potbelly.com/louisville 12 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE I have issue with many of the points of a recent article ("For What It's Worth," August 2013) but would like to address, as an appraiser in the Louisville Metropolitan area for more than 25 years, a few of the most glaring ones. First, I would like to address the suggestion that appraisers are working outside their geographic area of competency. As this is strictly forbidden according to Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and a punishable offense, it is unlikely. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to think an appraiser is going to drive across the state for a couple-hundred-dollar appraisal fee. Most Louisville area appraisers operate within a handful of counties. The market-conditions report blamed for "making it more diffcult to secure a loan" was the invention of the nation's lenders and users of appraisal reports (banks) and is required for the appraiser to complete. It attempts to sum up a market area by a series of check boxes and, without signifcant extra explanation, can be misunderstood. It is a thorn in the side of appraisers who would appreciate a more clear and concise method of conveying this pertinent information. To describe the loss in home values as a problem that afficts only the West End is ridiculous. Many areas of town and other counties have lost signifcant value in the last seven to eight years. Most appraisers are homeowners and feel the effects as keenly as everyone else. As to Metropolitan Housing Coalition executive director Cathy Hinko's statement (that) "this doesn't happen in comparable white areas," I welcome an opportunity to show her and anyone else interested that it can and does and this is not the race issue some folks want to make it out to be. I do agree with realtor Lisa Houston that the solutions need to come from inside neighborhoods and from City Hall. The city is woefully late in picking up the ball on this one. At the current rate, it will take 74 years to deal with the properties now vacant locally. High vacancy rates and large percentages of non-owner-occupied properties are instrumental in dropping property values. While your article is timely, its narrow focus undermines the scope of this issue. Are appraisals "at fault" for decreasing property values? Absolutely not. Are appraisals the bearer of factual bad news? You bet. But don't blame the messenger. Jane E. Lindsey Kentucky Certifed Real Estate Appraiser Louisville