Re:One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, po...
by hkmurakami on Monday May 02, 2016 @03:53PM
(#11614949)
I do think the psychology is similar to why a car suddenly drops 30% in value the moment you drive in out of the dealer's parking lot.
For what it's worth, the 30 year old house will show wear in places you can't see, like the plumbing or the electrical wiring or the roofing. My parents' place is about 30 years old now and there's a fairly constant stream of small repairs that have been necessary over the last few years.
Re:One-third of SF Bay Area residents hope to leave soon, po...
by hnal943 on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @02:47PM
(#11623186)
I don't really know, but I read an article that said earthquakes contribute significantly to depreciation in Japan. If the structures just don't hold up as long due to the harsh conditions, it would make sense that old structures would be worth less.
My home is about 30 years old and honestly the only way you'd know that is by recognizing certain features and techniques that pin it to that general time period of construction and code requirements. It's not like everything shows "30 years of wear" on it. (Of course all the surfaces have been replaced at least once over time, but by mass of the house that's not that much; maintenance is maintenance.) So it seems sensible to me that it hasn't depreciated all that much, in the way that, say, a computer from the same time period is basically worth whichever is greater of "nostalgia" and "scrap metal" value.