"Oh yes, you can do that"

It's tough to sell a house with only one bath, no bonus rooms, or some other deficiency that didn't bother past generations -- but might turn off today's buyers. In our search we've seen lots of attic conversions, added sunrooms, or half baths created in old pantries.

And we've heard some amusing straight-faced pitches from seller agents at less updated homes. Among them:

* The sellers "had planned to" cut through a small kitchen for a spiral staircase to the basement (there was no interior access).

* We could "easily" add a half-bath to a one bathroom house by sacrificing the living room coat closet and part of the staircase landing.

* The owners of an old farmhouse with no upstairs bath for the second-floor bedrooms "had plans drawn up" for an extension atop the dilapidated attached garage.

Well, sure. With enough money (and a good structural engineer) you can do just about anything to a house. But sometimes it just can't be done economically, or without spoiling the home's character or floor plan.

There are exceptions, but here's my general rule: If sellers can make a high-value improvement without extraordinary cost or ruining the house, they usually will. Next time a listing agent tells you a highly desirable modification is easy or inexpensive, sweetly ask "Really? So why didn't the seller do it?"