ARA Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2

Question 1

When researching comparable rural land sales, which data source is considered most reliable for verifying sale prices in the US?

Accepted Answer

County deed transfer records

Answer

County deed transfer records are primary legal instruments and considered the most reliable source for verifying actual sale prices in rural land transactions.

Question 2

A rural appraiser is analyzing a sale where the buyer assumed the seller's below-market financing. What adjustment technique addresses this?

Accepted Answer

Cash equivalency adjustment

Answer

A cash equivalency adjustment converts the sale price to a cash-equivalent value by accounting for the below-market financing terms that inflated the nominal sale price.

Question 3

Which statistical measure best describes the central tendency of a dataset of agricultural land sale prices when extreme outliers are present?

Accepted Answer

Median

Answer

The median is preferred over the mean when outliers are present because it is not distorted by extreme high or low values in the dataset.

Question 4

In rural appraisal research, 'paired sales analysis' is primarily used to:

Accepted Answer

Isolate the value contribution of a single property feature

Answer

Paired sales analysis isolates the market-derived value contribution of a single feature by comparing otherwise identical sales that differ only in that characteristic.

Question 5

An appraiser discovers that a comparable farm sale included personal property (equipment). What is the correct research step?

Accepted Answer

Allocate a value to the personal property and deduct it from the sale price

Answer

Personal property must be valued separately and deducted from the total sale price to arrive at the real property value for valid comparison.

(ARA) Accredited Rural Appraiser Practice Test

(ARA) Accredited Rural Appraiser Practice Test

ARA Research Methods & Evidence-Based Practice 2