I don't know about your area, but in San Diego having the historical designation is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because you receive a very suibstantial discount on property taxes and enjoy certain protections. It is also a curse because you will be severely limited in what you can do with the property and its original footprint.

Not only does it impact the value, it impacts the desirability. The large historic homes here in Long Beach sell very quickly and for top dollar. Having Mills Act status is beneficial because of the steep tax reduction benefits.

This obviously varies from market to market and from home to home. I have seen homes that have been designated historic actually lose value because the land underneath it was worth so much more than the house. The building restrictions prevented the owner from improving the home to the level of neighboring properties. We have very few historic homes in this market. Most homes here were built after 1920.

It's a great selling point in Seattle. There are some limits to altering the exterior appearance, but that's usually not an issue for most owners, as they're anxious to preserve a historic and vintage look.

There are a few historic overlay districts, one in Pioneer Square and another one on Capitol Hill called the Harvard-Belmont District. Outside of those two areas, I think it goes house to house, rather than historic overlay districts.

In areas like Long Beach, which have preserved their historic homes, it is a wonderful advantage. Sadly most of the historic homes in the South Bay Beach Cities have been torn down. People trying to preserve these historic homes have not gotten much support from the communities. Redondo Beach still has a few of the old Craftsman and Victorian homes built at the turn of the century. The Redondo Beach Historical Society is one of the few strong historical socities in the Beach Cities although they couldn't stop the demolition of the old downtown Redondo Beach 40 years ago.
Torrance however has a number of historic homes in their downtown area that do sell for a premium over others in the area.

We have a couple homes in my neighborhood that are designated on the historical society...and I've sometimes wondered if we should do that with our home. Two of these homes are currently listed and I've been wondering if/how being on the historical society has effected the listings.

Absolutely! The historical society is in place to help protect historical homes and neighborhoods. Values on these type of home are generally higher and attract buyers that have centered their needs, tastes and disires on this type of home. Spokane has the most beautifull historical homes and neighborhoods.