Is your house worth what it cost?

It's not something that people think about often if ever; but how does the price of a house compare to its real material value? Most houses are stick framed using light dimensional lumber and thin, manufactured sheet stock. The materials are relatively inexpensive but require a significant amount of labour to assemble.

When shopping for a house people tend to look at only a few factors. They look to see if the finishes are appealing, if the location is suitable, and what the market thinks about the price. But how did the market arrive at that price in the first place? Quite simply, the market determines price solely by how much people are willing to pay, which is based on the buyer's’ largely subjective analysis of the above factors. But what about the value of the actual structure? Buyer’s glance at things like the condition of the roof or the age of heating and cooling appliances, but usually this is only in order to determine the cost of any short-term repairs. If everything looks good it's given no further thought. The reality is however, that even if the major components of a house are currently adequate, most if not all will need to be replaced within 20 years. This goes beyond surface finishes and light renovations; we're talking a new roof and new siding ( both of which may include new sheeting and insulation beneath). The fact is that while you are paying a mortgage for 25 years, you're more than likely also paying to replace a significant portion of the structure the mortgage was supposed to cover in the first place not to mention the interest on it.

Contrast this with a house built with durable materials such as ICF.  A house built of concrete and insulated with  rigid foam simply doesn't deteriorate in the same way as stick framed structures. They do not rot, and their functional properties do not change over time. When a house is built with ICF it will likely need little more than cosmetic changes over the same time period where stick framed needs to be replaced entirely, or has reached the end of its serviceable life after having cost more than its value several times over.