Recently I received a letter from a reader who asked if having a tall water tower about 1,000 feet from his house would hurt his home's market value. By coincidence, a few days later I saw an appraiser friend at the local post office so I confronted him with that question.
"It sure won't help a home's market value," was his reply. Then, being an experienced appraiser, he reminded me the water tower is called "functional obsolescence." That means it is a material fact that is virtually impossible to eliminate but has a significant impact on market value. more...