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The Voice of Seguin Today
Volume 55, Number 028 830-379-2234
Appraisal district releases study on waterfront property values Study suggests lake property values could drop by as much as 28 percent
By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera
(Seguin) -- The findings of a study, launched several months ago to determine the potential impact that the threat of dewatering area lakes could have on properties along the Guadalupe River, have finally been released. Those findings are found in a 100 page document supplied to the Guadalupe Appraisal District by Patrick Brown of Real Estate Consultant, Incorporated.
trates the potential risk that exist for every case. "Initially, the study was specifically going to be for the (Lake) Dunlap (area). When the dam failed, the spill gate there and obviously that whole area was dewatered, but then of course in August, there was the issue
with potential dewatering of the other lakes. So we expanded the scope at that time to include those areas to try to determine the potential for external obsolescence, which is value lost, associated with perimeters outside the boundaries of the property itself. As a property owner, you can't do anything about it.
It's just in the marketplace -perceptions and the risks that is involved with choosing to pay for a property that is located along those rivers," said Snaddon.
level of properties exchanging hands will, of course, vary along the river and lake areas - allowing his office to pinpoint even more how a particular property will be impacted.
What is yet to be determined is the sales activity for these water properties. Snaddon says the
"There is still movement. The activity isn't as high as it was obviously, but there is definitely
New Chief Appraiser Peter Snaddon says it's been seven months since former Chief Appraiser Jaime Osborne first announced that her office was ordering this study. The purpose of the study was to look at the market value changes for the lakefront land and improved properties located along the Guadalupe River in Guadalupe County over the next four years. The subject properties, more specifically include lakes Dunlap, McQueeney, Meadow and Placid. Snaddon says the report indicates a potential overall decrease of 28 percent for properties located along the river and its hydroelectric lakes. Snaddon says the study doesn't mean that all property values in that area will automatically be lowered by that amount. Instead, he says it only illus-
activity out there and in some areas, we've seen where there are some discounts being made. But there are other areas where we haven't seen that discount, and again, it just kind of depends where you are at along that river," said Snaddon.
"But then, we are going to get into the rest of the reappraisal process which is sales within those specific lake areas Dunlap, McQueeney, Meadow Lake, Placid and as we review, there may be some activity in those areas that show sure that perception is there but maybe, it's not as heavy and that was shown in his report. You can see the spectrum of potential loss. He came to the average. The average was roughly about 28 percent in that first year, but of course, the spectrum was on either side of that obviously. So, you can see in some lakes, it may not be as strong as 28 percent once we look (at) sales activity and make some adjustments based off of that." Snaddon says since the study was first launched and announced, numerous things have already gone into play, hopefully helping to stabilize or even in some cases provide optimism for property owners around the threatened lakes.
Photo by Kristin Pendleton
See LAKES, page 2
Celbi Lucas • 832-721-9814