Another Tale of Two Houses

Another Tale of Two Houses

The broker’s tour of April 1, 2021 gave me plenty to think about, and it should give you plenty to think about too. What is your acceptable noise level? Living in the city entails vibrancy, excitement and, yes, noise. Living in the suburbs, or even more so, in the country, is quieter, more peaceful, even serene. This relative quiet would seem to be an important consideration in the subjective valuation of properties.  The contrasts between today’s two subject houses are what got me excited enough to explore the subject in more depth.

The first house, https://www.zillow.com/homes/19870-SW-Walquin-Ct-Aloha,-OR,-97078_rb/48598370_zpid/, is in a quiet neighborhood in Aloha. The surrounding houses are generally appealing with tidy yards, not grand but well kept. This house is not move-in ready but with the right upgrades it could be a fine house. The carpets all need to go but there is hardwood underneath throughout. The kitchen needs an update although there is a fine-looking gas range in place. New paint throughout most of the house is a must, the windows are serviceable but could be upgraded, in short, a project. Listed at $375,000, it is stated that a similar comparable house sold for $450,000. Say you bought it for $375,000 and put $75,000 worth of improvements into it bringing your all-in budget to $450,000, this could well be the nicest house on the block and worth more than $450,000 in today’s market. At 1320 SF, the price per SF is $284.09, and the yard is plenty big enough for entertaining or for keeping dogs, plus the garage/workspace is evidence that someone has done a lot of projects there before.

Contrast that with https://www.zillow.com/b/1505-NE-58th-Ave-Portland-OR/45.533865,-122.60398_ll/ which is not in a quiet neighborhood. The busy street outside was clearly audible from inside. This house is move-in ready (although some cosmetic changes are a question of taste) and listed at $519,000. At 2178 SF, the price per SF is $238,29. The smaller yard is still serviceable for entertaining, and a two-car garage rounds out this offering.

Since every valuation is subjective, we are left to determine for ourselves what value we place on things like commute time, busy street vs quiet street, and how much work we are willing to put into making a house into a dream home. The best feeling for a buyer is to walk into a house and say, “I love this house.” I had a hard time imagining that a buyer would unconditionally love either of these houses as they appeared today. At this point compromises are made, and differing weights are attached to the important features of the house. These houses will sell, and in today’s market may well sell for over the asking price, but only after the buyer has made their subjective calculations about what is important to them.