‘Real Estate Weekly’: Contemporary design proponents say lenders, appraisers prefer traditional

Fritz Embaugh of Plusone Design and Construction says he’s seen lenders and appraisers in the Baton Rouge area apply a “negative stigma” to contemporary design and architecture, and he’s not alone. “It’s not valued as much as a traditional home in Baton Rouge,” Embaugh says of contemporary design. “We’ve had some issues with our clients in the past, of them getting funding to build homes.” Some lenders blame standards imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Embaugh says. He attributes one client’s 15-month struggle to find financing on a Christian Street home to its contemporary architecture, and says it took Campus Federal Credit Union agreeing to take on the loan internally to get the home built. Dwayne Carruth, an architect with The Front Door Design Studio, agrees the stigma is out there—and says it’s unwarranted. “A good contemporary house is typically going to fly off the market,” he says, in part because there are so few of such houses in a sea of traditional, French/Acadian-inspired homes. “[Skeptics] don’t give our buyers enough credit.” Brian Falgoust, a regional representative with the Louisiana Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, says conformity is a principle often applied in real estate. “If something is non-conforming, there may be some market resistance,” he says. “In south Louisiana, everything kind of fits into a mold, as opposed to some of the larger urban areas, where you see more variety of architectural styles.” Read the rest of the Real Estate Weekly e-newsletter here. —David Jacobs