scraper
n.— «Without those ongoing improvement costs, a house runs the risk of being what the building industry calls a “scraper.” That’s a house with so much deferred maintenance that it’s cheaper to scrape it off the foundation and start from scratch—with a value of what the land is worth minus the demolition costs.» —“Homeownership versus stocks” Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Florida) Apr. 8, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In the thriller Down Cemetery Road starring Emma Thompson, a character uses the Briticism safe as houses, meaning “quite safe,” an expression thought to derive either from the sturdiness of a house or the sense of real estate as a secure investment...
Mona from Riverview, Florida, grew up understanding that the word schmooze, which comes from Yiddish, meant simply “to mingle and chat” at parties, but when she fondly referred to her friend as a schmoozer, the friend was insulted, assuming that a...