Musa Ali, a buyer at the Seacrest Landing townhome development, asked the board to lower the county'appraiser's valuation for his new home, saying lot sizes and advertised square footage varied across the development. The board voted to accept the county's revised valuation of $33,600 after county staff said they reconciled a square'footage discrepancy and used recent sales of the same model homes as comparables.
"I was, trapped. Yes," Musa Ali said when asked whether he paid $328,000 for the home and that he believed the market value should be lower; he also told the panel he felt the builder had charged differing land premiums across lots. County appraisal staff (Miss Wiggins) explained they reviewed plans, communicated with a supervisor (Greg Allman), and resolved an apparent difference between a builder'provided plan and the county sketch: the county used 1,711 square feet after review and pointed to multiple 2024 sales of identical models in Seacrest Landing as the strongest comparables.
Board members said allocation of lot value within a development commonly treats similar lots similarly for equalization and accepted the county's revised appraisal. The board voted to adopt the county value; a written notice will follow by statute.