LAND VALUING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 502, 8 May 1909, Page 14

LAND VALUING.

(Br Robem Gabdneb Government Lamb . Vauteb.) "I havo often wished that I could pat upon paper my opinions, of the present system of land valuing, and the principles that should form the guide to arrive at and determine the value of land. ."As a Civil Servant, I could not do so, but now, having reached age for retirement,.! leave the service after thirteen years constantly valuing : land for taxation, and landing purposes'for sill tho Departments of the Government, my pon" need" no longer remain -dry. In passing, while I agree that sixty-five is a good age to fix as that at which the Civil Servants should retire, more especially now that a liberal superannuation fund exists, still it seems hard that the Government Bhould lose the services of men physically and mentally fit, with all their lengthened and accumulated experience, also hard upon the men themselves l to; suddenly find they have : become derelicts on the earth's surface in the. estimation of thoso they hare served, however much they may feel, as capable of work as ever. In my own'casei I am .as fit for work now as I tos twenty' years ago, • but the' retirement of a valuer is not so hard -as of many others, I for a has acquired an experience in long • service' that is special, and so useful that he can turn. it to account at once, greatly to his private advantage. ( ; "When a valuer is appointed, the tion Act is placed in his hands, and he is told to go and administer it. As far as I know, no further direction is given him, ©x;c6pt :to bewaro of inflated valuos. : But to halp him to follow sales, he gets from time to time a; list of all transfers that have tdkeri' place with the prices at which the several properties have changed hands, with those : also the former values. The principle of the Act is the selling price. It roads thus: > Capital value of land means the sum which the owner's estate or interest therein might bo expected to realise at ' -tho time of valuation, if offered for sale on such reasonable' terms and conditions as a'-bona fide settler might ~bo ex- • pcctcd to require. "Now, from eixperibncei'i-have found that grave dangers ariso from merely taking selling prices at /indications" of value. . The .readiness with which money can-be. obtained, and its cheapness, leads to gambling. Dur-, .ing'tho past; ten' years, \ifiore than one half 'of all. the sections■ in 1 my district, from almost;- Wellington . to. •. Rangiwahia, have changed ihands—in many cases two and even three times—each change has been at an advance on the preceding,: bought, sold, or exchanged, . merely to make a profit. Mark you, tho vainer must follow the sales. Sometimes 'the • land' will not sell, and no profit •can be made. Then conies a scare, and, although tho property; may, under good management, be made' to j pay interest, even at the price paid, it is rushed into the market almost at any price. Still, the valuer should follow what tho, land will sell for atvtbo time'of inspcciionv This cannot bo a safe guido to truo value, nor for tho lending of money—it is too'.risky.' To ascortain the true value of a 'property requires a better guido "than mere 'sales,' also involves a knowledge'of many factors. "At the time of inspection, the. first question should be: Will it, by good management," in its present condition, pay expenses and''current interest; also, .has it a prospective value? I refer, at present, to^ country properties. Town properties require different treatment; "and that I may refer : to later. Well; then, to . determine paying value, one must be able to estimate the effect of tho distance ■ from market, character of roads, quality of. soil (both surface and subsoil), the natural features, what best adapted, for, 'the, average market prices ob':.tftinablo 'He must also be 'able to know grasses, .and estimate their, .'valuo; fencing, -• draining, ..buildings; whether, and how far,»tho last-named aro nocessaiy to the: working of Hhei property. In a word, will it pay tho cost of working, and 1 the interest on its cost? v . "In tho case of lending money;, an estimate' of tho character of the applicant must be made. Is he capable, industrious, sober, ■honest? : ,Were tie value of a property to depend upon these, land valuing would beoome a profession requiring no mean intelligence. ..' f■■ ('Valuing some flax land, and following sales of it, it was found to bo worth £25 ah:aero, eighteen,months ago;.now the puno land is not worth £10 an acre. On an average of ten 'years, £12 would have been enough. I havo to compliment, the Vainer-General upon his honest and capable efforts to administer the Act. As a farmer and a flaxmiller of twenty-three., years' experience, I felt,- when valuing during the last thirteen; years, ' that had I ' adhered' strictly to tho Act,' grave mistakes, would havo-been; mado. To be a valuer, ono must have tact, knowledge, experience, of no inferior ordor. While I believe that the Valuation Dpartment is 'a most important' one, in securing ono standard,;;;]and;- j not, - as, - before, when . there were half-rardozen ' valuations, eiwh ' for . the' samo property, the standard should be: Will-it Will it sell?"'