When they all look the same
One of the things that makes house valuation difficult is that every house is different from every other house. It’s true even when they are built the same size: same footprint, and on lots that are the same size and shape. From the get-go, there a subtle variations in regard to position on the street, sunlight angles, and such.
But it is over the years that the real changes happen.
A client of mine bought a 1950s Cape Cod style home on a block of very similar Cape Cod style homes. They were not only similar in layout, but the yards were all more or less the same. My clients bought it in 1994 and sold it in 1999 to trade up. My clients bought their Cape from an older couple. It was very clean and neat, with a lot of original features in very good shape. None of the Capes on this street had any additions, so they were still all the same, outside.
Recently, I showed a house for sale on this street. The whole time I was there, I had the feeling I was in the house my client’s bought in 1994.
But things bothered me: My clients removed carpeting and finished the oak flooring; this house had modern carpeting. I didn’t remember ceiling fans; this house had some that were of 1990s vintage. I didn’t remember the stairway being open the way this one was. Thinking this was my client’s old house, I thought the next owners really diminished its charm and value.
The next time I was at my desk, I checked the records. My clients’ former Cape was a couple down the street. I was glad someone didn't make those changes to my client's house.
There are lots of common changes make to the “typical” Cape Cod house. There’s removing the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. There’s adding a room behind the kitchen. There’s dormers on the back, upstairs. There’s converting the breezeway into a room. There’s converting the garage into a family room. There’s adding skylights into the living room or kitchen. Which of these have you seen work? Which are awkward to everyone except the family who has been living with it?
And, yes, there is tearing it down and starting over. We don’t need to go there, today, do we? Does anyone really need to make the case the Cape Cod houses from the 1950s have not right to exist?
If you know post-war Capes and have something to say about them, this is your day.
