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A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

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Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#141

Post by m463 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #136
dfischer wrote: post #132

Insight into younger generations: I hate the idea of owning property. I don't want to be stuck to a city or a location. The world, and the universe have so much to offer. To me, buying a house is cementing your location and stunting the amount of knowledge you can acquire by handcuffing you to a location and limiting your exposure to the world. That is the philosophical side, then there's the debt and the overall ass…

Most people have the same thoughts (at least in the income class that can afford to move around), until they have children and need a good school district.

Also theres the "That place was so expensive back then, but now I realize I should have bought 2 of them"

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#142

Post by jandrese »

Balgair wrote: post #104
maxsilver wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also hate maintaining a detached single family home with a yard. I also hate being responsible for the fixes. But that situation is still far better than renting. When we rented, we were subjected to eviction at any time, for nearly any reason, for basically no notice (60 days, which in the US is effectively zero notice). Your subjected to every whim the crazy wildly-irrational housing market throws at you (we've h…

> we've had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now, despite living in bumblefudge-nowhere Midwest Quick math for the rest of you out there: That means they paid 1000 in 2009 and now pay ~3500 in 2019. Also, yes, I feel you there. Our rental agreement states a mandatory 10% increase if you rent from year to year. I've no idea why the company is this stupid though. The rents around us are falling or stay…

When I rented the company sent a letter every year asking us to agree to a 8-12% hike. Every year we ignored the letter until they called and we talked them down to either keeping the rent the same or raising it only a couple of percent. It's one of the headaches of renting, but it makes a huge difference over time.

A fixed mortgage is much less painful.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#143

Post by dfischer »

m463 wrote: post #141
lotsofpulp wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people have the same thoughts (at least in the income class that can afford to move around), until they have children and need a good school district.

Also theres the "That place was so expensive back then, but now I realize I should have bought 2 of them"

This has an interesting inheritance of why properties go up in value in relation to supply and demand and an economy. If the needs of society are pushed to an average of not needing to venture out anymore due to automation and manufacturing + remote work then we start to focus internally on community. If that's the case, how much does the location matter outside maybe the view you're able to afford?

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#144

Post by Balgair »

benj111 wrote: post #135
Balgair wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we've had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now, despite living in bumblefudge-nowhere Midwest Quick math for the rest of you out there: That means they paid 1000 in 2009 and now pay ~3500 in 2019. Also, yes, I feel you there. Our rental agreement states a mandatory 10% increase if you rent from year to year. I've no idea why the company is this stupid though. The rents around us are falling or stay…

"Our rental agreement states a mandatory 10% increase if you rent from year to year" Why even sign that agreement? That landlord obviously isn't going to give a toss if there's a issue. Its just a huge red flag for me.

> Why even sign that agreement?

Honestly? It was a good place and a good price. We've no intention of dealing with that issue either. We tend to move every year as the jobs change. Would we like to stay in this place for longer? Sure! But it's unlikely to occur.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#145

Post by Balgair »

jandrese wrote: post #142
Balgair wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we've had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now, despite living in bumblefudge-nowhere Midwest Quick math for the rest of you out there: That means they paid 1000 in 2009 and now pay ~3500 in 2019. Also, yes, I feel you there. Our rental agreement states a mandatory 10% increase if you rent from year to year. I've no idea why the company is this stupid though. The rents around us are falling or stay…

When I rented the company sent a letter every year asking us to agree to a 8-12% hike. Every year we ignored the letter until they called and we talked them down to either keeping the rent the same or raising it only a couple of percent. It's one of the headaches of renting, but it makes a huge difference over time. A fixed mortgage is much less painful.

> A fixed mortgage is much less painful.

I'm in total agreement, but the housing prices around here aren't very good (obviously expensive). Besides, we don't have stable work yet, so locking into a mortgage that will go underwater isn't wise.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#146

Post by cglace »

roasm wrote: post #128
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

One of the trends that I can only hope continues is getting rid of this idea that home ownership (especially single family home ownership) is the American dream. I live in and own a detached single family home (was a compromise with my spouse) and to be honest, I hate it. I hate having to take care of the yard, to deal with unreliable tradespeople when things break, to deal with the huge expense of minor home repairs…

This seems like a great area for disruption. You can imagine a property manager for a homeowner who you call for anything. They can charge a monthly fee plus a percentage on top of any (vetted) subs they use. A single person can probably juggle dozens to hundreds of homes; then scale that. It's the services of a rental property manager without the rental part. With adults these days (me included) being more technical…

You can get a home warranty that will cover a lot of the systems in your home.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#147

Post by mulmen »

newsoul2019 wrote: post #139
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

One of the trends that I can only hope continues is getting rid of this idea that home ownership (especially single family home ownership) is the American dream. I live in and own a detached single family home (was a compromise with my spouse) and to be honest, I hate it. I hate having to take care of the yard, to deal with unreliable tradespeople when things break, to deal with the huge expense of minor home repairs…

Am I the only one who has always seen renting as a temporary arrangement only? If you don't own something, somewhere, doesn't that mean the same as being homeless? Not trying to offend anyone. Genuinely wondering, are there people who really don't want to own real estate ever in their lives?

I've been renting for a long time and I have never considered myself to be homeless. When it rains I generally stay dry. I'm not sure how renting implies or is in any way similar to homelessness. I still have the means to provide shelter for myself. I could even rent a hotel room for quite a while, long enough to find a new place for sure.

I don't see how the risk of being evicted (is this something people worry about?) is any greater than the numerous possible disasters that could strike a place you own in ways renters don't have to worry about.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#148

Post by mst »

snissn wrote: post #125
alistairSH wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right there with you. We sold our 1800sqft single-family for a 1500sqft townhome shortly after the kid flew the nest. And we still have two bedrooms that are seldom used (one is a guest room, used 3-4x/year, the other is an office used never, except by the dog).

awww.. what kind of job does the dog have?

Hard to tell given the number of industries that allow Woof From Home these days.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#149

Post by esoterica »

maxsilver wrote: post #98
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #93

One of the trends that I can only hope continues is getting rid of this idea that home ownership (especially single family home ownership) is the American dream. I live in and own a detached single family home (was a compromise with my spouse) and to be honest, I hate it. I hate having to take care of the yard, to deal with unreliable tradespeople when things break, to deal with the huge expense of minor home repairs…

I also hate maintaining a detached single family home with a yard. I also hate being responsible for the fixes. But that situation is still far better than renting. When we rented, we were subjected to eviction at any time, for nearly any reason, for basically no notice (60 days, which in the US is effectively zero notice). Your subjected to every whim the crazy wildly-irrational housing market throws at you (we've h…

Price controls do not work. High home prices are a symptom of a lack of available housing and the only way to fix the lack of housing is by building more housing.

Re: A Growing Problem in Real Estate: Too Many Too Big Houses

#150

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

0xDEFC0DE wrote: post #82
tomatocracy wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a macro level and over the long term, even if prices fall and this means that slightly less rich people can buy them instead, big houses are more expensive and more work to look after and maintain and there is a limit to the number of people willing and able to do that. The ultimate end result could be that some of these houses become derelict, which isn’t really good for anyone. This is what happened to a good nu…

Knock $10-20k off the price and put that towards hiring people to clean it. Bundle the house sale with cleaning services for a few years or something. The amount of people willing to deal with it will grow as the price falls, but that's not newsworthy. That's the uncomfortable truth for people wanting to sell.

There's still energy costs wasted on heating and cooling 4x more space than you need.
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