Opinion ID: 1296720
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Valuation of the Kingfisher House

Text: C.B. argues that the court erred in two respects in its valuation of the Kingfisher house. First, while C.B. agrees that the market value at the date of trial was approximately $145,000 and the debt $137,200, he argues that the court also should have deducted selling costs. Thus, C.B.'s expert testified at trial that a sale at that time would have resulted in a loss of $6,827 when closing costs were considered. However, the expert admitted on cross-examination that this figure anticipated the seller paying all closing costs, and that it would change if the buyer shared the costs. Vicki proposed a negligible net value, and the court agreed, using the $145,000 and $137,200 values but assigning a nominal net value of $1. See Finding No. 13 in Addendum. The court thus effectively deducted approximately $7,800 for selling costs. The valuation of the property at $1 was not clearly erroneous, given the speculative nature of the testimony regarding values and sales costs, and the lack of a firm selling date. C.B.'s second argument regarding the valuation of the Kingfisher property is that, to the extent the debt against the Pokey Circle property was directly caused by the refinancing to purchase the Kingfisher home, this debt should be deducted from the value of that home. C.B. does not provide any persuasive legal basis for this argument. As Vicki points out, the Pokey Circle mortgage is secured by the Pokey Circle property, not by the Kingfisher property. All of this mortgage should be deducted from the value of the Pokey Circle property, not from the Kingfisher home. Thus, we affirm the trial court's valuation.