Small Project Design

I have to agree with Donald and respectfully disagree with Eric. Houses are commodities, just like a Rolex. Some houses may gain additional value  for subjective reasons, and like the Rolex (not really the best timepiece but the best promoted) and not necessarily because of its inherent quality of design. My own house is designed well and my family and friends love it. But it will be another 3 BR 3 BATH commodity in the marketplace when it finally must go for sale, Realtors will promote its attractive and sensible features if it helps to sell quicker, but inflated prices usually work against that no matter how good looking. I don't know of any local houses that were valued more than the comps because of the design - though they were probably superior in many "design" respects. If the day comes that all houses are attractive and above average in quality, then I guess then we shall have achieved success, for ourselves and for all.         

Allen E Neyman
Rockville, MD
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I think you are, in a way, agreeing with me. Why is your house going to eventually be perceived as another 3bed house when it eventually sells, regardless of it's attractive quality? Because the buyer is not entirely in charge of what they want to pay for it. The bank they borrow the money from is going to dictate to them how much they are willing to lend based on what the appraiser says it's worth. This is like a 16 year old kid going to dad and asking to borrow $3000 to buy a car they found in the paper. Dad is going to look up the Bluebook value and tell his kid that it's only worth $2000. The kid will say how much they love the blue paint job w/ lightning bolt and the coffee can on the exhaust pipe that makes it sound so fast and furious. Dad is going to say too bad, it's only worth $2000 and you still need to mow the lawn.

The consumer that pays for a Rolex without "mom or dad" in charge of the purse strings decides the value of retail items like watches. Since no one buys a house with their own cash and relies on a bank, well it's really up to the bank to decide. Since the housing crash, it's been really hard to convince someone to pull more money out of pocket than what the bank says a house is worth. Starting out way underwater is not a place most people want to be right now. The "bluebook value" established by the appraiser does not take into account what people personally think of a house's value. Personal choice is removed from the decision as what the consumer thinks vs what the lender thinks. People are told what the value is based on an average of recent "comparable" sales. The consumer has little say, thus the market decisions are dictated not by the end user or consumer, but by the financier who could care less about looks, sustainability, thoughtful design, good spacial flow, etc. They just see a 3 bed house on paper.

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Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
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