Just compensation
Fair Market Value is defined by appraisers as the most probable price, in terms of cash that would be paid by a willing buyer to a willing seller, each being fully informed of the property's good and bad features, with the property being exposed on the market for an adequate time to attract offers.[9][10][11] Although their valuations may be different, the appraisers for the condemnor and the condemnee both follow the same three-step process: The highest and best use of the property is often the most important factor in determining the fair market value of land being taken by condemnation.[13] Appraisers traditionally analyze alternative uses to a property to determine its highest and best use with the following criteria in descending order:[13] 1.[1] The appraiser also estimates the costs of demolishing and replacing the existing structures on the property as well as other expenses such as permitting fees.These methodologies are: In a typical assignment, an appraiser for a party in an eminent domain case uses all three methods and then determine which one most appropriately calculates the fair market value of the subject property.[1] This is because property values fluctuate with supply and demand which is influenced by, among other things, shifts in financial markets and mortgage interest rates.[14] In eminent domain cases, depending on the jurisdiction, the data collected on sales of similar properties may be admitted as direct evidence and/or as support for the appraiser's testimony."[16] Using this approach, appraisers try to determine the property's market value by analyzing its capability to produce income.Those methodologies alone may be ill-suited to appraise unique property interests that are not fee simple title,[14] or for appraising the just compensation owed to landowners in jurisdictions with protections in their state constitutions that require just compensation be paid to landowners when the government "damages" their property.[18] However, the admissibility of their opinions based on these methodologies is subject to jurisdictional rules of evidence on expert witness testimony.