In my law practice I frequently deal with real estate appraisals.
If an appraiser wants to estimate the fair market value of property X, he or she will likely take a direct comparison approach. The appraiser will select three recent sales of similar properties as a starting point. Because no two properties are alike, adjustments are made to the three comparable sales, to bring them in line with property X. The intent is to make an apples-to-apples comparison. So, if one comparable has a larger...