Single family housing as a class is aging in virtually all metro neighborhoods. Depending on the neighborhood, homes date from the 1900s or before through the 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s with the youngest of them now approaching 60 years old. Each is a product of its time, designed to reflect the lifestyle, income, and social status of its owners at the time it was built – formulas that have become increasingly dated through changes in wealth, income, family structure, personal lifestyle preferences and demographic patterns. Because of this, most suffer from some degree of functional obsolescence. Additionally, as frame houses age, their physical components deteriorate. Built before enactment of stringent building codes, many have structural, deferred maintenance and health and safety issues. Each possess varying degrees of physical obsolescence. Most improvements to them have been functionally specific or cosmetic in nature and do not typically address these core issues that are expensive, complex and provide limited payback on resale.

In short, these houses are fossils of their times, with many of the least desirable examples providing significantly less living space, features and amenities than housing built today for the affordable/subsidized market. As homes age, the structures themselves depreciate while the land beneath them appreciates. This ultimately affects neighborhood composition as more are converted to rental status, retarding tax revenue while increasing municipal service demands. To alter them to better meet today’s requirements is expensive and problematic. To retro-fit them in terms of today’s energy efficiency