Newsgroups: sci.engr.civil sci.engr.electrical.compliance sci.engr misc.consumers.house alt.home.repair alt.building.health-safety misc.legal
From: mojaveg@mojaveg.iwvisp.com (Everett M. Greene)
Subject: Re: Require Buildings to Habe "Odometers"
References:  
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 08:23:33 PST

vjp2@panix.com writes:
>    Cars have mileage counters and changing the total mileage on a used
> car  is illegal.   I believe  one  should be  required to  prominently
> display  and disclose  the  age of  a  building to  anyone renting  an
> apartment, hotel  room or buying a  residence or other  space.  I also
> happen  to believe  disclosure is  superior to  regulation.   The real
> estate profession managed to annihilate the appraisal profession a few
> years ago by  getting permission to offer a  market value opinion. Now
> the realtors  are attempting to  create a profession  of undereducated
> building inspectors to push engineers  out of this market. I have seen
> many contractors  do a gut rehab of  a building and offer  it as brand
> new. Yet  realtors manage to get grandfathered  in getting regulations
> applied based on  the oldest part of a building,  even while they tell
> consumers the building  is brand new.  Therefore I believe  it is in a
> consumer's interest to disclose the age of the oldest existing part of
> a building, much as a car's odometer reveals the true wear and tear of
> a car.

Much ado about nothing?

This would seem to primarily be a concern for those buying
commercial property.  If the buyer can't tell the difference
between a new and a rehabbed property, he doesn't have much
business purchasing the property.  And, a property that's
been gutted and rebuilt is effectively a new building.

So what's the problem?