Effective Age

[Tru Red]

Providing an effective age of a stick built home within the body of an appraisal report in most states is not brain surgery.

Yet some people on this forum insist that it is.

smh.

 

[RCA]

The great exceptions to old homes, are those built by contractors or good architects (with good contractor relationships) for themselves. They will often engage in overkill with foundations, material and workmanship. I don't want to identify such homes I have appraised. An old Craftsman home in Fairfax comes to mind. Build by a famous contractor for his family around the turn of the century. His nameplate is still on the house. They knew where to place the homes - on hillsides or knolls with bedrock. Look into the gigantic crawlspaces and see exposed bedrock. The timber is redwood, 2x6, 6x6 construction. Looking in the crawlspace, the timber looks clean and untreated after all this time (100+ years).

In these homes that I discover which were built by contractors for themselves, I can sense solid construction - compared to surrounding homes, from appearances alone. But there are many clues.

I even appraised one such in Pacifica, a rancher built in the early 1990's and was able to talk to the contractor about the construction after he sold it moved up further north. Massive foundations. And, this was for court. A divorce. Another appraiser in the area had appraised for the opposing party. The other appraiser did not take into consideration the quality of construction; and one can argue most buyers wouldn't notice. An engineer would notice. - It was a rancher - and unless you had a keen eye you wouldn't notice the difference. Flat sides, straight orthogonal cuts, perfect.

Of course if you don't take care of even these high quality homes, they will age. The owner has to stay on top of maintenance. That takes money and/or other resources such as skill and time.

When I built the 1800 sf extension to my home in the 1990's, I dug the foundation myself, until I hit bedrock. I was lucky, much of area is built on sand and is subject to liquifaction - according to the maps. But bedrock juts up under the center of my property. The foundation poured was massive. - Mostly because I did not know better. Most experienced contractors would probably have used about 30% of the concrete I used. But so much the better. We'll have to wait for the next big earthquake to see how robust it is.

My dad was an excellent cabinet maker and carpenter, so I grew up with construction and know probably quite a bit more than most appraisers.

 

[Ricky LaFleur]

For what it's worth, a house of superior quality receives a longer remaining economic life and a higher replacement or reproduction cost, not a negative effective age. You can reference Marshall & Swift for their estimates of economic life, but a low, fair or average quality house does not have the same life expectancy, economically speaking, as a good, very good or excellent quality house.

 

[Mark K]

.... know probably quite a bit more than most appraisers.

Of course you do. LOL!!!

 

[glenn walker]

The great exceptions to old homes, are those built by contractors or good architects (with good contractor relationships) for themselves. They will often engage in overkill with foundations, material and workmanship. I don't want to identify such homes I have appraised. An old Craftsman home in Fairfax comes to mind. Build by a famous contractor for his family around the turn of the century. His nameplate is still on the house. They knew where to place the homes - on hillsides or knolls with bedrock. Look into the gigantic crawlspaces and see exposed bedrock. The timber is redwood, 2x6, 6x6 construction. Looking in the crawlspace, the timber looks clean and untreated after all this time (100+ years).

In these homes that I discover which were built by contractors for themselves, I can sense solid construction - compared to surrounding homes, from appearances alone. But there are many clues.

I even appraised one such in Pacifica, a rancher built in the early 1990's and was able to talk to the contractor about the construction after he sold it moved up further north. Massive foundations. And, this was for court. A divorce. Another appraiser in the area had appraised for the opposing party. The other appraiser did not take into consideration the quality of construction; and one can argue most buyers wouldn't notice. An engineer would notice. - It was a rancher - and unless you had a keen eye you wouldn't notice the difference. Flat sides, straight orthogonal cuts, perfect.

Of course if you don't take care of even these high quality homes, they will age. The owner has to stay on top of maintenance. That takes money and/or other resources such as skill and time.

When I built the 1800 sf extension to my home in the 1990's, I dug the foundation myself, until I hit bedrock. I was lucky, much of area is built on sand and is subject to liquifaction - according to the maps. But bedrock juts up under the center of my property. The foundation poured was massive. - Mostly because I did not know better. Most experienced contractors would probably have used about 30% of the concrete I used. But so much the better. We'll have to wait for the next big earthquake to see how robust it is.

My dad was an excellent cabinet maker and carpenter, so I grew up with construction and know probably quite a bit more than most appraisers.

A $1.5 Million Dollar-Remodel done by a architect is a new home using the original exterior design with a new functional interior floor plan- This is not a good example of a typical 100 to 200 year old home and is like taking a 57 Chevy and the only thing original is the Body as its drive train and electronics are all brand new. Frankly I dont think you know squat about construction or architecture as your living in some weird La, la Land . Also many Architects are terable investors as are Civil engineers . They tend to build or design things that nobody but themself's are impressed with.

 

[Tru Red]

My dad was an excellent cabinet maker and carpenter, so I grew up with construction and know probably quite a bit more than most appraisers.

I ALMOST fell out of my chair laughing.

 

[Dublin ohio]

I ALMOST fell out of my chair laughing.

I did. Ouch!

 

[Dublin ohio]

My dad was an excellent cabinet maker and carpenter, so I grew up with construction and know probably quite a bit more than most appraisers.

My uncle was a union plumber, I spent about 6 years as an electrician, My son is a carpenter, my other son is a roofer. I guess that would make me an expert.

 

[Tru Red]

My uncle was a union plumber, I spent about 6 years as an electrician, My son is a carpenter, my other son is a roofer. I guess that would make me an expert.

No. You'd be a professional certified masters corroborater engineer architect executive uber qualified MBA/GRI/SRA/MAI.

Don't short yourself.

 

[RCA]

A $1.5 Million Dollar-Remodel done by a architect is a new home using the original exterior design with a new functional interior floor plan- This is not a good example of a typical 100 to 200 year old home and is like taking a 57 Chevy and the only thing original is the Body as its drive train and electronics are all brand new. Frankly I dont think you know squat about construction or architecture as your living in some weird La, la Land . Also many Architects are terable investors as are Civil engineers . They tend to build or design things that nobody but themself's are impressed with.

Nobody said it was a typical example of anything. The post was a response to the question as to whether a 120 year old home could have an effective age of 0. This is an example of when it can. The tax assessor put the effective age at 0 and I concur. -- And yes the age is still in the tax assessor record as 120+ years.

You keep interjecting assumptions and all kinds of things that were not in my posts. Are you de facto insane?