4 ms·

didn't they get an appraisal at the higher figure before the low appraisal and the subsequent experiment? i don't doubt that this sort of behavior exists, but i

by a-dub 5y ago

didn't they get an appraisal at the higher figure before the low appraisal and the subsequent experiment? i don't doubt that this sort of behavior exists, but i also don't follow the argument behind this piece. maybe the middle appraiser was just bad at their job or pandemic effects were in play? if i'm reading this right, they didn't have to hide their identity for the first high appraisal, right?

ajross 5y ago
My assumption was that the previous appraisal was under a different owner (e.g. the Austins bought and flipped it), but the text of the article isn't clear. As for how to prove any one event is racially motivated: sure, it's basically impossible. Which is precisely why this kind of problem persists. Are lawsuits against million dollar home appraisers the best way to address the imbalance? Certainly not. But you go to war with the army you have, as it were.
- a-dub 5y ago
  it says they bought the house in 2016 for 500k, put 400k into it, had it appraised at 1.5, then at 950 and then at 1.5 again (with the hidden identity).
- LorenPechtel 5y ago
  It's going to keep happening because that's how real estate works. They always advise you to scrub your identity from the house--this applies no matter what your race.
Izkata 5y ago
Yep, there were three appraisals, all of which they owned the home for (it says further down they bought it in 2016 for way less than even the lowest appraisal). The first one was for about the same as the third, except they didn't hide themselves. The low appraisal appears to have been Jan 2021, and the first one early 2020. The drop coincides with everyone moving around during the pandemic. Whole story is bunk, and there's an ulterior motive smell in the writing: All instances of "black" are capitalized, all instances of "white" are lowercase. This isn't normal, but is a trend among political activists.
- jdlshore 5y ago
  Capitalizing "Black" is part of the New York Times style guide. I don't think it's reasonable to assume ulterior motive. They could just be following a journalistically-accepted style guide. According to [1], the NYT style guide capitalizes "Black" because "it refers to a shared cultural identity (like Latino, Asian, and Native American). "Brown" is not capitalized because it refers to a wide range of cultures, and "white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history, and additionally is capitalized by hate groups. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black...
  - dude187 5y ago
    Doing that is a form of bigotry though, just one that unfortunately a lot of less honest but mainstream media outlets have come to demand.
  - bagels 5y ago
    Do blacks have shared cultural identity? I would think that there is a gulf in culture across Africa, let alone island nations and Americans that are black.
    - a-dub 5y ago
      yes they do and you should read about it! the fact that you're asking makes this especially important!
  - maccolgan 5y ago
    >"white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history I think this is pretty objectively false, if it were true, then the white-black dichotomy wouldn't work.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > >"white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history > I think this is pretty objectively false, It’s imprecisely stated, perhaps, but it gets at the real difference. Perhaps more accurately, “‘white’ is not usually the primary ethnic identity of the people to whom it, as a racial label, applies, in the United States.” > if it were true, then the white-black dichotomy wouldn't work. The real difference in the degree to which the two identify a shared culture is central to the dichotomy. The Black American experience of White racism involves the forced erasure of preexisting, more specific historical culture communities, ties, traditions, and identity. The White American experience leaves more specific ethnic identities intact and generally dominant over White identity except among a subset within White supremacists.

by a-dub 5y ago

ajross 5y ago

My assumption was that the previous appraisal was under a different owner (e.g. the Austins bought and flipped it), but the text of the article isn't clear. As for how to prove any one event is racially motivated: sure, it's basically impossible. Which is precisely why this kind of problem persists. Are lawsuits against million dollar home appraisers the best way to address the imbalance? Certainly not. But you go to war with the army you have, as it were.

a-dub 5y ago
it says they bought the house in 2016 for 500k, put 400k into it, had it appraised at 1.5, then at 950 and then at 1.5 again (with the hidden identity).
LorenPechtel 5y ago
It's going to keep happening because that's how real estate works. They always advise you to scrub your identity from the house--this applies no matter what your race.

Izkata 5y ago

Yep, there were three appraisals, all of which they owned the home for (it says further down they bought it in 2016 for way less than even the lowest appraisal). The first one was for about the same as the third, except they didn't hide themselves. The low appraisal appears to have been Jan 2021, and the first one early 2020. The drop coincides with everyone moving around during the pandemic. Whole story is bunk, and there's an ulterior motive smell in the writing: All instances of "black" are capitalized, all instances of "white" are lowercase. This isn't normal, but is a trend among political activists.

jdlshore 5y ago
Capitalizing "Black" is part of the New York Times style guide. I don't think it's reasonable to assume ulterior motive. They could just be following a journalistically-accepted style guide. According to [1], the NYT style guide capitalizes "Black" because "it refers to a shared cultural identity (like Latino, Asian, and Native American). "Brown" is not capitalized because it refers to a wide range of cultures, and "white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history, and additionally is capitalized by hate groups. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black...
- dude187 5y ago
  Doing that is a form of bigotry though, just one that unfortunately a lot of less honest but mainstream media outlets have come to demand.
- bagels 5y ago
  Do blacks have shared cultural identity? I would think that there is a gulf in culture across Africa, let alone island nations and Americans that are black.
  - a-dub 5y ago
    yes they do and you should read about it! the fact that you're asking makes this especially important!
- maccolgan 5y ago
  >"white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history I think this is pretty objectively false, if it were true, then the white-black dichotomy wouldn't work.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > >"white" doesn't represent a shared culture and history > I think this is pretty objectively false, It’s imprecisely stated, perhaps, but it gets at the real difference. Perhaps more accurately, “‘white’ is not usually the primary ethnic identity of the people to whom it, as a racial label, applies, in the United States.” > if it were true, then the white-black dichotomy wouldn't work. The real difference in the degree to which the two identify a shared culture is central to the dichotomy. The Black American experience of White racism involves the forced erasure of preexisting, more specific historical culture communities, ties, traditions, and identity. The White American experience leaves more specific ethnic identities intact and generally dominant over White identity except among a subset within White supremacists.