Why do square, Ranch-style houses get a premium?

[Crissa]

I saw this in another thread (the thread was fascinating, actually, lots of good reads in here).

Why do square, Ranch-style houses get a premium? They're often poorly used space, more expensive to maintain, light, heat and cool because of their inherent shape, and usually (to my eyes) hideous. And they're horribly common, I never find a search without one or more of these style houses in it.

I don't get it. Give me a split-level or A-frame or yurt-style or one of the classics with bay windows to quiet alcoves and tall great rooms and sun rooms (which I guess you could have in a Ranch-style, but are uncommon).

Some houses certainly will sell slower due to uniqueness, I get that. But the discussion was about what looked like a perfectly average house, and yet it was treated as unique (although very common in its zip code) because it took advantage of the gentle slope of the land it was in, as if every house should be perched above ground like some sort of farm crop.

Umm, so what are some reasons Ranch-style houses given some sort of premium?

-Crissa

 

[Smokey Bear]

Move to Alameda (near San Francisco). It's filled with Victorians, bungalows and Mediterraneans. We call those 'other' houses 'post-war box crap' in Alameda.

 

[jlabauve]

Hi Crissa -

First, appraisers don't "give a premium" to anything. Appraisers measure what is happening in the market and reflect what the market shows in the appraisal report.

I am very, very far away from the California market, but I would think that the ranch style houses are quite predominant in the area, and appraisers are comparing ranch-style sales to ranch-style subjects. So if there is a "style" adjustment, it would already be built into the comparable sales ... there would be no need to adjust for the style.

By the same token, if a property is an unusual style, the appraiser would attempt to find recent sales of that unusual style. If no recent similar sales were found, he would attempt to find an old sale of that type property and compare it to ranch styles which sold at the same time. From this comparison he could extract a market reaction to the unusual style.

Hope this helps.

 

[MDAPPR]

I never seen a Square, Ranch style home,(maybe 1 or 2) but I've seen many Rectangular shape, Ranch style homes. Personally, a 1950's Ranch home is my favorite style of home, second would be a Craftsman Cutie, and third would be a modern Log Cabin. Abobe brick homes are literally cool..

 

[Farmland]

In certain markets, ranch style homes sell at a primium price on a per sq ft basis due to the aging popluation of the community. Having everything on one level, no stairs, is a valuable assest for people as they age. In my area, a ranch home also has an additional premium because of the larger basement space which can be used to expand the living area at a relatively low cost.

 

[hglenbetts]

Different strokes for different folks.

In this part of the country, SE Michigan, the good old Brick ranch commands the greatest $ per ft of any home style. That's all there are in some of the older suburbs, as far as the eye can see.

The Split levels that you are fond of are hard to give away. We had many built in the late 60s early 70s (Brady Bunch) and now they are least desirable styles homes in the market.

As for yurts, they remind me of the "Forts" we built in the woods when I was a kid.

 

[DMZwerg]

Why do square, Ranch-style houses get a premium? They're often poorly used space, more expensive to maintain, light, heat and cool because of their inherent shape, and usually (to my eyes) hideous. And they're horribly common, I never find a search without one or more of these style houses in it.

There are a number of elements in why one style of home is more popular than others in a particular area and thus may seem to attract a "premium".

One thing is the size of the basement and 1-story homes tend to have larger SF of basement per SF of GLA of the subject (in areas where basements are common).
An often related point is storage area, which often include attics & basement areas.

A third is actually use of space. Part of that tends to be a more modern usage which is in part determined when a particular design moved through the area giving current nods to ranches, contemporary ranches, and contemporary 1.5-story dwellings at least in this area as most 2-stories are older. A second part is the utility of a main floor bedroom & full bath, particularly as people age and seek to avoid stairs as much as possible. & Contemporary ranches & some older large SF ranches often separate the master suite from the other bedrooms & bathrooms. In ranches without basements the elimination of the stairwell saves space.

Another is the lower pitch & height of the roof tends to make roof repairs less costly as fewer premiums (for height, special tools, etc) are needed and actual roof surface area per GLA may actually be the same. It isn't easy to shingle a 12:12 pitch or steeper (I helped shingle barns a few times) and adding that the roof of a 1.5-story federal or a 2-story can start 20' off the ground tends to add to the expense compared to a typical ranch with a roof 10'-12' off the ground which one can sit on, walk on, and fairly easily & efficiently strip the old shingles off of, as well as being able to carry up bundles of shingles, set them on the roof, and not have to worry about them falling off the scaffolding or such.

Ranches do typically occupy a larger footprint per SF GLA which adds expense in that regard (albeit expense can be less than some would think, as other threads have indicated, and much of the added expense can be basement). Some cost manuals include a premium for 1-story homes and this gets expanded due to costs of larger basements.

So what I believe it comes down to is that there is an inherent popularity with ranch style homes, especially in areas where a typical buyer is looking for the above grade portions to be complete and only wants to contemplate finishing the basement (if necessary). What has been lost is the inherent above grade expansion room older 1-story & 1.5-story dwellings tended to allow. Most have conformity (which has its good & bad points) but what styles are the most predominant tract style changes from area to area. Therefore different markets will tend to express a "premium" for different style homes, and in my area the "premium" appears to be for well constructed & designed Prairie-Style homes (especially by FLW, but also by proteges & imitators), at least amongst certain sub-market buyers.

:icon_mrgreen:

 

[Lee Lansford]

As a generalization, 1-story (aka, ranch-design) are more costly to build (all other variables held constant) than houses of other design.

 

[DMZwerg]

As a generalization, 1-story (aka, ranch-design) are more costly to build (all other variables held constant) than houses of other design.

I think people have had this discussion before, and it really depends on the exact style, design, construction and, most importantly, basement.

For houses with basements the extra SF of basement will generally add cost (excavation difference slight, +30% footing perimeter, double the flooring, +30% walls) and ranches are more likely to require a 2nd set of main support beams. For same GLA exterior walls CAN be more expensive for 2-story than ranch (again, +30% PLUS 50% of the construction is 2nd story but possible for extra span), flooring same, and roof could be less or same depending on pitch (12:12 for 2-story is almost identical IIRC). Where 2-story can save is that the 2nd floor is less typically brick. Comtemporary designs throw all new wrenches in things. I have seen as little as $5/sf GLA differences in cost manuals for same SF 1-story & 2-story, not counting the basement. As always the biggest factor can be uniformity of design.

 

[Crissa]

And certainly the cost to build that way doesn't mean it is desired more than any other way. So sometimes cheap ways to build return cheap square footage to the total value and sometimes expensive ways to build return poor square footage value.

I know all that!

But thank you on the views on the typical ranch. Someone in another thread said they were premium, and I've been told by banks that ranch houses are just plain 'better', but I couldn't see that in any of the benefits such properties gave. They seemed likely to have roofs which were low slope (therefore higher chance of damage from weather, harder to heat and cool) and few ever seemed actually more accessible for being so plain looking outside.

-Crissa