My neighbors, who are also affected, accepted their initial offer. Why shouldn’t I?
See above. Also, fair market value may vary significantly depending upon what is determined to be the highest and best use for your property. People generally seem to think that you “can’t fight City Hall.” But that’s not correct. We do not believe the government intentionally makes bad offers; they just make uninformed offers because the government appraisers typically aren’t as thorough as they should be. The government often chooses a lesser highest and best use for a property it seeks to acquire through eminent domain so that the governmental entity can justify offering to pay a low “fair” market value for your property. Landowners should ensure the correct highest and best use is applied to their property, which may be different from the actual use employed by the current owner. Your neighbors may not realize the actual value of their properties if they aren’t doing their research. If you’re here reading this, you’re already a step ahead.
When your neighbors learn of the additional amount of compensation you obtain from hiring an attorney, they will often reach out to see if they can get more; however, it will be too late for them since they’ve already accepted the initial offers.