Opinion ID: 2265400
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: valuation of cranberry terrace property

Text: The Cranberry Terrace property is a piece of residential realty purchased by the husband in Alpine Estates in the city of Cranston. It is agreed that the property was purchased for $390,000 and that at the time of the trial of this case was subject to a mortgage of $307,400. The husband presented an expert, James Sloane, who testified that the current market value of the property was $292,000. The general master's finding in regard to the equity value was based upon the original purchase price together with the cost of improvements made to the property as of the time of purchase. The general master rejected James Sloane's testimony as unpersuasive. We believe that in this instance the master was not clearly wrong in utilizing a cost basis for his valuation of the property, although normally comparable sales do provide the most persuasive evidence of value. However, on cross-examination, testimony was adduced from the expert that he did not take into account in adjusting his comparable sales the postpurchase additional improvements to the Cranberry Terrace property. In this analysis the master was not clearly wrong.