Why is compensation given to those who lose their land always lower than the market value of real estate?

in #liberty2 days ago

For context, this is a question I answered on Quora

The term you are looking for is sand bagging. Allow me to explain:

When the government wants to take someone’s property, usually someone of little means who cannot afford their own lawyer, they will make a higher initial offer prior to condemnation. If the property owner rejects this offer as inadequate the government will initiate condemnation and come back with an even lower offer knowing damn well that 1) they can seize the property in the condemnation proceedings anyway and 2) the person they are seizing property from doesn’t have the money to litigate for more compensation. “Fair” market value is always a ruse used to deny the fact that the buyer in this forced transaction has all of the bargaining power and can pay whatever price they feel like by virtue of having a gun at the table. The condemnation proceeding itself can lower market value once it is initiated because no other prospective buyer can purchase and use the property now. So called “fair market value” also excludes moving costs, cost of acquiring a similar property, or in the case of a business lost revenue and the value of the location. This allows the government to claim “savings” for the taxpayers after forcibly ripping off one of their taxpayers in an involuntary transaction.