- 7 -
testified, "nobody knew exactly where the road was going
to go". Mr. Sirmans' attorney, Mr. Phillips, suggested
taking the property off the market and investigating the
possibility of borrowing against the property.
After several inquiries of mortgage brokers and
financial institutions, Mr. Sirmans learned that banks
would consider lending approximately 30 to 50 percent
of the value of the property. As a prerequisite, the
banks would require a recent appraisal of the property and
would require Mr. Sirmans to guarantee the loan personally.
After these initial inquiries, Mr. Sirmans
contacted several appraisers. He asked for an appraisal of
the subject property that would be "a very attractive or
high appraisal, so that it would be an appealing loan for a
bank to consider". At least one appraiser refused to
provide an appraisal on that basis.
Mr. Sirmans discussed the appraisal with a
representative of Bay Area Appraisal Services (BAAS) and
that firm agreed to appraise the decedent's 56.5 acres.
Thereafter, BAAS issued a letter dated June 18, 1990, and
an appraisal report of the decedent's property (BAAS
appraisal) in which it valued the decedent's property at
$791,000 as of the date of the letter, 81 days before the
decedent's death. The BAAS appraisal concluded that the
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