Comments on: Obsolescence- What Real Estate Classes Fail to Teach

By: Greg Barnhouse

Greg Barnhouse — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:44:03 +0000

What’s even more strange is to find in these “Texas Basements” that not only are the HVAC units up there, but quite often the water heaters are up there, too! After having lived in Colorado where there are basements and the HVAC and water heaters are down there, where there is concrete and a drain. Instead, here you will find the HVAC units between the roof trusses and water heaters sitting in a drain pan that can get clogged with loose bits of insulation and cause big nasty leaks that cause a lot of damage.

I guess each region has its own querks. . .

By: Rob McCance

Rob McCance — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:01:44 +0000

Ahhhhh, the Texas Basement!

You Texans have the best sayings.

By: Matt Stigliano

Matt Stigliano — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:41:37 +0000

Rob – Here in Texas we call those doors that lead into attic space a “Texas basement.” I laughed the first time I heard it, but here in San Antonio we don’t have traditional basements, so they often build homes with those sorts of entryways to the attic to provide the same type of storage you might get with a basement.

By: Artur Ciesielski

Artur Ciesielski — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:45:03 +0000

Sometimes these obsolete items become an asset. I had one client who had to have old steel single pane crank out windows. He passed up many awesome homes because they had new double pane high efficiency windows. But that is an outlier.

By: Rob McCance

Rob McCance — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:55:44 +0000

Good post Ben.

There are geographically obsolete homes all around Atlanta, mostly west and south of the city.

The home with a small front yard, and a 4 lane highway in front of it is a classic. Not the home’s fault that the road went from a country route with one unmarked lane barely big enough for two cars, to what it currently is, but unfortunate.

I like the one with the funky interior. I’ve actually seen a few modern homes with strange things like a large room accessible only through the master bathroom, and it’s not meant to be a closet as there were three of those already.

Ever seen the upstairs walkway/hallway that terminates into a door, which is actually unfinished attic space? Not good.