unReal Estate
April 16, 2001

4 Fabulous Bedrooms with En Suites, Grand Entrance, Awe-Inspiring Floating Timber Floors, Period Features, Granite Benchtops, Three-Car Garage.

Why can't Real Estate marketeers describe a building well? Most architects get more laughs than information reading the real estate section of any Saturday morning broadsheet. But it's a sad sort of laugh. These descriptions are undermining good architecture as houses become evaluated in terms of an uninspired checklist of features.

Recently an Auckland architect invited around several agents to evaluate his house and estimate its market value. This house has none of the above features but is nevertheless a fine family house that has been carefully designed in response to the lie of the land, the sun, and the living patterns of a young New Zealand family. It is rather sexy in a 70s pole house kind of way, and provides several innovative areas of experiential delight. The house wasn't doing to well on the scorecard and so the architect tried to explain that this house might not be of interest to the 'typical buyer'. In two out of three cases a glazed look appeared in the agents' eyes. Mr Architect tried to explain by analogy:, "this house might not suit a Commodore driver but it might suit a Citroen driver." This didn't register either. The agents were unable to produce estimates because they couldn't 'gauge' the house. They suggested that recent neighbouring sales might be an indication.

There is one real estate catch-all catchphrase that applies in these difficult circumstances: "architect designed". Busy architects who focus on housing in a particular area become familiar to real estate agents and are sometimes lucky enough to become a brand. The result being something like,
"Corb House with AEG Kitchen For Sale".

And here's a more recent phrase that tries to cover all things quirky (often including architectural design) : "for funky people". No comment on that one.

This would all be terribly funny if it wasn't having an effect in reverse. Clients are often very aware of these unwritten checklists. They also seek the advice of real estate experts early in the design process to check that they are not overcapitalising and that the design will perform at resale. The advice adheres to the checklist. Meanwhile, the client is in an conservative frame of mind given this is the largest investment that they have ever made. Thus families with two cars are building three car garages, and of course the obligatory walk in robe and ensuite. And perhaps we could have european appliances and a double height entranceway?

How should an architect respond to these requests? Why are real estate agents underselling good architecture? Why are fittings more important to some buyers than the building itself? Is bespoke architecture respected by enough people to remain viable? In the coming months [butter paper] will be monitoring the situation for a follow up article. Any input from the field would be most welcome.

by Peter Johns