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Kansas homeowner questions property valuations

Posted at 8:54 PM, Mar 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-30 21:56:34-04

Scott Estes bought his home and land two years ago and has been fighting the appraisal value ever since.

The house is a mobile home built in 1991.

A Miami County appraiser originally valued the home at about $80,000. After appealing, the county dropped it closer to $70,000. However, when Estes requested the help of Veterans Affairs, they appraised the manufactured home only $17,000.

"How can anyone say this home, a manufactured home 25 years old at this condition, is worth more than a brand new 2015 home?" Estes questioned.

Estes said unlike a normal house, manufactured homes lose value over time "because they’re cheap quality, manufactured homes must be depreciated."

Estes laid out pages of documents showing two years' worth of appealing his home's appraisal value. However, Estes said the county claimed when the home was placed on cinder block foundation, it became a "modular" home, therefore raising the value.

"I’ve appealed at every level. And what’s happened? Absolute waste of my time," Estes remarked.

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Shannon Halligan can be reached at shannon.halligan@kshb.com.

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