Definition of "Replacement cost"

Mary  O Connell real estate agent

Written by

Mary O Connellelite badge icon

O Connell Properties

Are you thinking to yourself: What does replacement cost mean?

When someone in the Real Estate Market mentions Replacement Cost, they are talking about an evaluation of how much it would cost to build a completely identical new house to replace an old one. By completely identical, read as built with the same materials (or materials of equal quality), the same square footage and the same amount of bedrooms, bathrooms and whatever other types of rooms the preexisting house had. Included in this calculation is also the manpower required to build the new house on the place of the old one.

Why is this done? Well, determining the replacement value of an asset is mostly done for insurance reasons – like calculating the depreciation of the house over its useful life to cover any damage – but the so-called replacement cost approach can also be done by an Appraiser in order to help assert the Market Value of a house in volatile markets where the real estate market external factors are difficult to evaluate.

Real Estate Secrets:

Building a new house to replace the old one? There are a bunch of other terms you should look on our 
Glossary to guide you through this tiring process!

You know a difficult replacement cost to calculate? That of a trustworthy agent! Use The OFFICIAL Real Estate Directory® to find one!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Dehydrated gypsum that is mixed with water to form a rapidly setting material. Plaster of paris sets too rapidly to be practical for most building applications, but it is useful for ...

The definition of a property brief is a document including the summarization of the attributes and characteristics of the property. Officially issued legal records are supposed to include ...

Just to be clear: an Open house is not when you invite friends over to meet your new house. At least not in the real estate world.When you hear someone talking about an Open House, they ...

Residing in a structure that the individual owns. ...

Net operating income (NOI) of property relative to its market value. If rental income property worth $1,000,000 results in NOI of $100,000, the overall return is 10%. NOI compared to ...

The selling of a parcel of land whereby the original owner agrees to immediately leaseback the property. The advantage of the land sale-leaseback in that the original property owner can ...

When it comes to the subsurface rights definition, the meaning needs to be defined from the US perspective as these rights are not a default elsewhere on the planet. In general, in the US, ...

Regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) establishing the criteria to avoid a private offering. For example, John wants to sell shares in an apartment house to several ...

Person leaving from work to spend time in leisure activities. pay in full the balance on a debt either at or before the maturity date. Penalties may be assessed on prepaying a mortgage. ...

Popular Real Estate Questions