A friend owns a movie theater located on major city boulevard near
an intersection with traffic of 60,000 cars a day.
The theater has been closed down for ten years and the building has
been condemned. The city has threatened to demolish it , but has not
taken action as of yet. The land itself is valued at approximate
400-500 thousand according to the newspaper..
My friend lives on social security ( 62 years old) and even uses
this to pay the taxes on the property. He does not own a car , or a
telephone . I have urged him to list the property with a real
estate agent and sell it at the market value ( so he can live
better) . He becomes extremely angry when I mention this because
he says, eventually a major developer or retail outlet will want to
build on the property and pay him 1.5 million dollars for it. IS
THIS A RATIONAL BELIEF? There has been some major development
near the intersection on the other side of the street where there no
residential properties nearby. His property is backloted by
residential property. He also claims that Walmart may build
directly across the street where there was previously a school
atheletic field....although, there is no major highway nearby. ( all
the Wal marts in our area have been built near the major
highways). I asked him how is he going to sell the property
without a telephone and his reply was "they will write me a letter
with an offer." My thoughts are if a major developer wanted the
property they would simply go to the city and say, " this guy wants 3
times the market value for a condemned property , can you help us? "
At that point, would not the city take it with eminent domain and
turn around and sell it to the developer for the market value?
And professional opinion is appreciated. My concern he is living in an
illusionary belief. Right or wrong?
