Strategies for Negotiating for Your Residential Property: What’s the Highest Possible Compensation?

As a residential property owner in Georgia, facing eminent domain can be a daunting prospect. Your property’s not just a significant financial investment, it’s your home. When the government exercises its power of eminent domain, it’s crucial to ensure you receive full compensation for your property.

Fair treatment in eminent domain proceedings often requires specific knowledge and experience. This short guide will outline some key strategies in negotiating for fair compensation, but you should know: partnering with an experienced eminent domain attorney can significantly increase your odds of receiving everything you may deserve.

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3 key negotiation strategies

1. Ensure you receive a comprehensive property valuation

Don’t rely solely on the government’s appraisal because it may fail to properly assess:

• Fair market value of the land and structures: This goes beyond just the property’s listed value. Recent sales of comparable residential properties in your area should be considered if available, considering factors like location, amenities, and unique benefits like views and proximity to water.
• Severance damages and conformance issues: The value of the property that GDOT does not take could be damaged by what it takes. If a road comes closer to a home, the home may be less desirable, for example.

Additionally, a taking could put a property in violation of local ordinances. Perhaps GDOT takes “only” ten feet of the backyard, but the result is that your home does not have a sufficient setback – and will require a variance from the county or municipality (that they are not obligated to give you).

• Highest and best use: Highest and best use becomes important when the land is more valuable as something other than a residence. It’s still your land – but maybe it is worth more as a multi-family or commercial development. A complete eminent domain valuation considers these possibilities to help you seek maximum compensation.

2. Consider all compensable damages

As discussed above, you may be entitled to compensation beyond just the fair market value of your property. O.C.G.A. § 22-1-13 outlines additional potential damages related to the taking, including:

• Relocation expenses: These potentially cover more than just moving costs. For example, if your home had modifications for disabled living, modifications to a new home could be considered relocation expenses.
• Access issues: A change in how you access your residential property may negatively affect its value. For example, a slope easement may steepen the driveway uncomfortably, making the property less desirable (and therefore less valuable).
• Impacts on future development: Does the taking eliminate valuable space you were reserving for future development, like a swimming pool, auxiliary dwelling, garden, or workshop?
• Zoning and setback complications: Could the partial taking result in your property no longer meeting local zoning requirements for residential use?
• Loss of business profits: If your residential property was used as a rental for business income, you may be able to recover lost profits.

Example: A one-acre residential property loses 20% of its backyard to an eminent domain taking for a new road. While the taken land itself might be worth $50,000, the impact on the owner’s future plans to improve the property with a pool and guest house could result in severance damages of additional hundreds of thousands of dollars.

3. Leverage the project influence rule

Georgia law requires that your property be valued as if the government’s project didn’t exist. This rule is important for residential properties, as government projects can significantly impact nearby land values.

If your property is being taken for a new highway, nearby residential land might have decreased in value due to speculation about the project. Your property should be valued based on prices before the project was announced.