What a 1951 house on these streets is really worth

Most of this neighborhood went up in the 1950s. The house I sold on NE 18th Avenue was built in 1951, and it is entirely typical.

Owners of houses that age often assume the year is holding them back. In the numbers, it mostly is not.

AGE IS NOT THE VARIABLE

Across recent sales here, homes built in the fifties sold across almost the entire price range. Some at the bottom, some near the top. If the build year were the deciding factor you would not see that spread.

What you see instead is condition doing nearly all of the work.

WHAT ACTUALLY SEPARATES THEM

The roof and the glass. These two items account for more price difference than anything else I see. A mid century house with a recent roof and impact windows is a different product from an identical house without them, and it is priced as one.

Whether the systems have been touched. Original electrical and plumbing in a seventy year old house is a deduction, and it is a bigger one than the cost of fixing it, because buyers price uncertainty rather than the invoice.

Whether the layout has been opened. Fifties floor plans are compartmentalized. The ones that have had a sensible wall removed between kitchen and living show far better, and the work is often less than people fear.

WHAT DOES NOT MATTER AS MUCH AS OWNERS THINK

Original character features. Terrazzo, jalousie details, period tile. Some buyers love them and some do not. They are rarely worth a premium and rarely worth removing.

The kitchen being dated, provided it is clean and functional. Buyers expect to update kitchens in older houses and have usually budgeted for it. What they will not forgive is a kitchen that is dated and also falling apart.

THE PRACTICAL READ

If you own a fifties house here, the highest return work is unglamorous. Roof, glass, systems, and one thoughtful structural change if the plan is awkward.

That is a genuinely manageable list, and it is the difference between the lower and upper end of a very wide range.

If you want to know which of those apply to your house specifically, ask. It is usually two or three items, not all of them.

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