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overbuilding

5 real estate words that make you sound smart

May 31, 2012 By Ryan Lundquist 12 Comments

In case you want to win in the real estate category on Jeopardy or boost your real estate IQ, this post is for you. Here are five real estate words that will definitely might make you sound smart. Enjoy and find a way to use them soon.

This yard has a huge staircase to the front door (it's very odd for the neighborhood)1.  Superadequacy 
Superadequacy is basically a synonym for “overimprovement”. It’s when a property is overimproved and the cost exceeds the value it adds to the property. Examples of superadequacy would be an 8-bedroom house in a 3-bedroom neighborhood, an air conditioning unit in Antarctica or a $50,000 kitchen remodel in a $100,000 neighborhood.

Example: It’s nice that Lola’s McMansion gives shade to all the neighbors, but it’s still a superadequacy.

price reduced sign2.  Functional Obsolescence:
Functional obsolescence is “a reduction in the usefulness or desirability of an object because of an outdated design feature, usually one that cannot be easily changed” (from Investopedia). In real estate, we see functional obsolescence when there is a feature of a house that is not useful to buyers for one reason or another. It may have been acceptable at some point in the past, but is now outdated, or it may simply be odd and less appealing. Examples include having to walk through a bedroom to get to another bedroom, having no dishwasher or laundry hook-ups, having a giant indoor spa that takes up half the master bedroom, having no bathrooms on the first floor or only having one bathroom in a 4-bedroom house.

Example: The property on Main Street sold for less because of functional obsolescence. Buyers just didn’t like only having a sink in the master bedroom instead of a full bathroom like all the other houses.

3.  Fenestration
space ship house on Garden HighwayFenestration is the design and placement of windows (and other openings) in a building. Most of us probably observe fenestration all the time by saying things like, “ooh, I love that big bay window off the front dining area” or “I like the house for the most part, but the windows make it look like a space ship.”

Example: Ginger loved the house, but wasn’t so sure about the fenestration. Would future buyers really buy a house with parallelogram-shaped windows next to a circular entry door?  

4.  Bifurcation
yodaBifurcation is a word to indicate something is split into parts. When it comes to the housing market, we’d say the market is bifurcated because there are different segments of the market. We see this clearly when there is a price difference between traditional sales, short sales and foreclosures. In this case the market would be bifurcated because the market is split into distressed sales vs. non-distressed sales.

Example: Johnny knew the market was bifurcated, so he hoped to buy a bank-owned fixer for less so he could “move up” into a more expensive neighborhood. 

5.  Easement Appurtenant
An easement appartenant is an easement which is annexed to the ownership of one parcel of land that allows one party the use of his or her neighbor’s land and which runs with the land when the title is transferred to another party (from RealEstateWords). The best example is one neighbor driving over another neighbor’s land to get to his lot.

Example: Everyone says I’m a nice guy for letting my neighbor use my driveway to get to his house, but it’s really just the easement appurtenant.

Picture from Wikipedia 200px-Kyle_Plante_mullet_5th_grade6.  Parcel Mullet (Bonus Word)
This word probably won’t make you sound smart, but since we’re talking about real estate words, it’s worthy of mention. My friend Heather Ostrom and I invented this one. A parcel mullet refers to the phenomenon of having a well manicured short lawn in the front yard, but a wild long yard in the back. Or in laymen’s terms, business lawn in front, party lawn in the back. If you didn’t know, the mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back (Wikipedia). Read more on the parcel mullet here.

Example: Bobby felt strangely proud of his parcel mullet being three feet high. 

I hope you enjoyed the post. If you want some practice using these words, I’d love to see you slip one of them in a comment below.

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Filed Under: Appraisal Stuff, Random Stuff, Resources Tagged With: #parcelmullet, Bifurcation, definitions of real estate words, easement, easement appurtenant, fenestration, Functional Obsolescence, learning about real estate, overbuilding, Overimprovement, parcell mullet, real estate education, real estate words, Saramento Appraisal Blog, superadequacy, words in real estate

Stuff you shouldn’t do to your house: Part II

May 29, 2012 By Ryan Lundquist 17 Comments

Are you thinking of remodeling? I wanted to give you some ideas of what NOT to do. Like I’ve said before, it’s usually good to stand out in real estate – but not for odd reasons. This is the sequel to my previous post, “Stuff you shouldn’t do to your house“, but this time around I asked some real estate friends to share some of their photos too. Enjoy.

Super size my house please: If you’re thinking about adding on to your house, just don’t add too much because you don’t want to overbuild for the neighborhood. Super-sizing might work at McDonald’s, but not in real estate. This 2-story house in Sacramento is 3,293 square feet in the middle of a neighborhood of mostly single-story 1100-1400 square foot homes.

overbuilding for the neighborhood - photo by Ryan Lundquist

A Bathroom with a View: The sliding glass door to the rear yard is usually found in a master bedroom, so it’s a bit odd to see one in the master bathroom. Hopefully “Tom” doesn’t live next door, right? Otherwise you might be getting YouTube famous. Thanks Realtor Doug Reynolds for the photo.

sliding glass door from the bathroom to the rear of house - photo by Doug Reynolds

Who kept the dogs in? I’m sorry to point this out, but don’t let your dogs pee and poop on the carpet throughout your house. It’s not good for health, and it’s hard for a realtor to put a positive spin on your situation. “Carpet has been loved by dogs” isn’t a selling point. A family with kids was living in this house with their four little yappers. It was disturbing to inspect this one. And yes, I took a shower when I got home after the inspection.

dog pee on carpet - photo by Ryan Lundquist (unfortunately - not his house though)

A rock mountain in the front yard: A friend on Twitter emailed me this picture of a rock pile in the front yard. This house is located in Sacramento and I’m not sure what the “mountain” signifies. The owner is obviously artsy since the house is painted purple and yellow. Thanks @Swellyn for the photo.

rock pile - photo by Sue

Building around the light fixture: If you’re going to remodel your house, it’s not a bad idea to do it the right way. This is a clear example of cutting corners because the owner should have moved the light fixture or simply not added faux exterior finish to the top of the door. If corners were cut here, where else were they cut? Thanks Realtor Anne Graviet for the photo.

building around a light - photo by Anne Graviet

Reverse tub technology: Do you see anything wrong with this picture? The drain should be on the same side as the spigot, but it’s not. This might actually be easy to miss in a house you’re buying if you really didn’t look closely. After all, you wouldn’t expect to see a tub installed backwards. Thanks Realtor Gena Riede for the photo.

tub is not installed correctly - photo by Gena Riede

Shoddy work without a permit: It’s usually obvious when work was done without a permit because the level of workmanship is often lacking in the quality department. These photos come from Realtor Sheena Reithmeier are a perfect example. The county had noticed a non-permitted porch and patio cover on this property and then asked the owner to correct the issue. The owner then ignored the situation and racked up several thousand dollars in fines due to not correcting. When it came to representing a buyer to purchase this house, Sheena asked for the overhang to be removed and for the seller to pay all county fines prior to COE.

Unpermitted overhang - photo by Sheena Reithmeier

Unpermitted overhang - photo by Sheena Reithmeier

Chemical storage contest: It’s not a bright idea to store containers or bins full of chemicals on your lot. This can potentially lead to very bad environmental situations, but it also doesn’t win you points for securing a loan. No lender is going to want to see containers like this on your property because it raises red flags. I snapped this photo a few years ago in North Sacramento.

containers in North Sacramento

Private “reading area” in the crawl space: I saw this photo in MLS a while back and the agent noted there was a “non-permitted toilet installation” in the crawl space. I laughed when seeing the picture because it almost looks like one of those cheesy chain emails that might mention something about a “luxurious” guest bathroom or “mother-in-law quarters.” What’s the story here? Any guesses?

Toilet in basement

The “Dragon house” in Sacramento: While I honestly think the “dragon house” in the Curtis Park neighborhood is amazingly artistic, if someone came to me asking if they should do this to their home, I’d probably say not to go for it. I mean no disrespect to the owner or artist. This “layer” off 22nd Street is definitely something you should check out in person if you’re local. The tile work and level of detail is nothing short of remarkable. Seriously. Watch a video below (or here).

Dragon house in curtis park sacramento - photo by Sacramento Appraisal Blog

I hope you enjoyed the images. Which one did you like best?

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Filed Under: Photos from the Field, Random Stuff Tagged With: advice from appraiser, advice on what not to do, Anne Graviet Realtor, bathroom in crawl space, bathroom with a view, Curtis Park dragon house, DIY, dogs gone wild, Doug Reynolds Realtor, dragon house in Sacramento, Funny real estate photos, Gena Riede Realtor, incorrrect tub installation, non-permitted patio cover, non-permitted toilet, overbuilding, photo of carpet stains, photo of overbuilt house, real estate tips, Realtor Sheena Reithmeier, things not to do in real estate, things that don't add value in real estate, weird stuff people do to their houses, what were they thinking

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