From: stephen@sprunk.org   
      
   On 01-Apr-15 13:53, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   > Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
   >> On 01-Apr-15 11:57, Adam H. Kerman wrote:   
   >>> Stephen Sprunk  wrote:   
   >>>> Well, the "highest and best use" of land typically accounts   
   >>>> for zoning and other restrictions.  IOW, it's the highest and   
   >>>> best _lawful_ use. . . .   
   >>>   
   >>> No, "highest and best use" is a concept of an ideal marketplace   
   >>> without building and zoning restrictions and without the ability   
   >>> to shift costs from your land use to others to prevent their   
   >>> full enjoyment of their land.   
   >>   
   >> Perhaps we're talking about different things.  My land is valued   
   >> (and therefore taxed) based on the "highest and best" lawful use,   
   >> which is a two-story detached house; that I actually have a   
   >> single-story house is irrelevant.  I could generate more revenue by   
   >> replacing the house with a gas station, but that's irrelevant too   
   >> because it'd be illegal.  I could try to get the zoning changed,   
   >> but if I succeeded, my land value (and my taxes) would go up   
   >> accordingly.   
   >   
   > Right. Building and zoning codes are outside influences that depress   
   > or increase land value.   
      
   ... and figuring out which can be tricky.   
      
   For instance, if I _could_ replace my house with a gas station, _my_   
   property value would go up, but I suspect my neighbors' would go down.   
   They benefit from my zoning at the cost of their own, and one could   
   easily argue the net effect to be either positive or negative.   
      
   Our tolerance for zoning seems to show that we collectively believe it's   
   a net benefit, but there are plenty of other things we tolerate that   
   clearly aren't, so that's not a very persuasive argument.   
      
   > I don't think the phrase "highest and best use" is found in George,   
   > but I'm suddenly spacing out on the term he used.   
      
   He does use the term "best use" in P&P, Book VIII Chapter 1 (Chapter 31   
   in the Drake version).   
      
   Plenty of other sources that go into the mechanics of appraisal do use   
   the full term, but I can't find an origin for it.   
      
   > Anyway, you're better off in the long running owning the smallest   
   > house on the block, not the biggest, if you wish to profit when you   
   > sell.   
      
   I've heard different theories on that; the only consistency is that   
   everybody says _not_ to buy the biggest house.   
      
   S   
      
   --   
   Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein   
   CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the   
   K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking   
      
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