“Hello, this is Raymer Maguire, I’m a 30 year eminent domain practitioner, I represent property owners and business owners. And the question at hand is, are there penalties inflicted on me if I force the government to condemn my property rather than to sell it to them? The short answer is, depends. I find that oftentimes, I can get the best deal for a property owner by negotiating with the Right-of-Way agent before they have to go to the trouble of an Order of Taking and an eminent domain petition. But on other instances, especially ones that are larger, it is best to allow the condemnation process to run its course because the Right-of-Way agents aren’t qualified, or at least authorized, to give the bigger money that comes with larger eminent domain cases.”