Evening star., 1941-04-12
Bargain Homes CosI
Is Declared High
On Basis Of Upkeep
Magazine Sets 5000
AS Price Thot Quality
House Con Be Built For

inexperienced buyers lose more
than they gain by shopping for
bargain buys" in houses, study
of home operating and mainte-
nance costs by American Builder
magazine reveals.
In typical case, a $4,770 bargain
home" cost 18 per cent more to
own. heat and maintain than
$4,000 quality-built house.
Heating, upkeep and mainte-
nance costs come out of the same
pocketbook as monthly mortgage
payments" American Builder points
out, and ought to be carefully
figured in the total monthly home
budget"
The high cost of poor conStruc-
ton is well known to experienced
builders, the editors report. But
many people when they come to
build or buy house will cut, Scrape,
bargain and go to ridiculous ex-
tremeS to drive down the price
or try to get something for nothing,
II they were buying a suit they
would willingly pay $40 for quality
garment rather than $3.50 to a
peddler, although the two suits
while new might look very much
alike.
Houses Look Alike Too.
Houses look alike too, especially
when they are new" American
Builder declares, but the hidden
values which are so important to
long life and low upkeep are the
result of experienced management
by an expert builder.
The builders of houses must
also look alike to many prospective
BUYERS for frequently they fail to
distinguish between the man who
is prepared to deliver a quality job
and the man who will cut and chisel
all along the line just as much as
the short sighted buyer forces
him to-"
In buying home, purchasers
should consider not the immediate
outlay or principal sum, but the
total monthly cost, including av-
erage monthly expenses such as
fuel bills, electricity, maid servive,
hot water and repairs.
Often. an increase in first cost
results in substantial savings in fu-
ture operations. An extra sl7O
first cost for a quality insulation
lob might save the owner SIS month
in fuel bills for the life of the
house. Yet that S170 would amount
to only ST. increase in monthly
mortgage payments. Thus the
quality minded home buyer would
be spending 81 to save Sob
viously a good investment.
National Averages Used.
To illustrate how s4,770 bar
gain house" actually costs more
per month than a quality built"
$4,000 house. American Builder
analyzes individual home construc-
ton items on the basis of national
averages. Most builders prefer to
deliver a quality home building
lob, but frequently buyers will try
to get more in a house than their
money can possible buy-even to
the extent of turning to some
fourth-rate individual who they
foolishly expect will pass a
miracle"
CONCRETE WORK - Sand is
cheaper than cement, and cheap,
dirty sand and gravel cost much less
than clean, hard, well graded ma
terials. If bargain lob" is wanted,
your bargain contractor" might
easily cut 500 on this item, but the
leaks, cracks and imperfections that
would be sure to show up along about
the second winter would cost great
deal more to repair than the So
cents a month this 500 adds to the
amortization cost.
LUMBER AND MILLWORK-1t
would be child'S play for any con-
tractor to cut 5000 on the cost OF
lumber and mill work by using green,
ungraded lumber and cheaper mill
work, improperly fitted or made
from low-quality lumber Also
wood butchers" cost a lot less than
expert carpenters.
Good Roof Pays.
ROOFING-On a small home, $50
can easily make the difference be-
tween a cheap roof and one that
will give long years of satisfactory
service. That $50 amounts to less
than 35 cents a month on the mort
gage payments. but over a period of
25 years the cost Of cheap, leaky
roof will run into hundreds of dol
lars.
HEATING-A quality contractor
will use a soundly engineered, eff1ci-
emily designed heating system with