The housing market needs more condos • Hacker News Board

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#111

Post by refurb » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 6:37 AM UTC

matsemann wrote: post #56

thisrobot wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think it’s possible to get more single family homes. So the only option is condos. I agree more spacious one would be awesome as an option.

Just need strong regulation. All house builders want to make lots of small apartments, as that often gives a higher price per square meter of flooring. But the local government should aim for it being a mix.

Regulation to what? Force builders to big bigger condos?

You realize that just makes them even more expensive?

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#112

Post by Gigachad » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 6:42 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #110

Gigachad wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had lived only in single family houses up until I moved to an apartment in the middle of the city and wow, the quality of life bump was astounding. Being able to just walk to anything you need, not owning a car, having so many high end places to eat at and entertainment venues to visit, the huge security benefit of being above ground level, being at the centre of public transport so friends can visit easily. So many…

It’s even better having a single family home in the city. You get all that plus space.

Ok but the same floorspace my $500k apt has costs about $1M as a townhouse in the same area. If you want _more_ space then you are looking at $2M or more. Sure, I'd love a house in the city. I'll put it next to my boat and Ferrari.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#113

Post by refurb » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 6:45 AM UTC

tdeck wrote: post #72

dec0dedab0de wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only row house's I know of share side walls. Because they're all built in a row.

If you look closely when walking around a neighborhood of row houses you'll find that they don't actually share side walls. Each row house has its own exterior walls with siding / exterior finish that may end up directly adjacent to the next house's exterior wall. This is apparent in areas where one row house has been torn down or is larger than its neighbor. Of course sound and fire might travel through these more e…

Those Sunset homes are detached single family homes - like you said, they don’t share any walls.

But SF has its own classification of “fully detached” which specifies a minimum space between homes.

https://thefrontsteps.com/2021/11/08/detached-home-san-franc...

Rowhouses typically share walls.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#114

Post by inter_netuser » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 6:48 AM UTC

twalla wrote: post #5

A lot of people have a big chunk of their net worth tied up into home equity because it's sort of the "ordained" path to building wealth for the middle class - condos don't see similar appreciation, get hit harder in downturns and are one of the last types of properties to recover in value afterwards. Start incentivizing treating housing as, you know, a place to live rather than a financial instrument and you'll see…

Are you familiar with Georgist taxes?

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#115

Post by aaomidi » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 6:48 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #107

mushbino wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also the case in China where 73% of millennials are homeowners.

Considering china is still very rural that doesn’t seem surprising. But China is still in their 1980s Japan phase where real estate in Shanghai is worth more than all of California.

China just builds out entire cities years before they're necessary.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#116

Post by closeparen » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 7:08 AM UTC

refurb wrote: post #110

Gigachad wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had lived only in single family houses up until I moved to an apartment in the middle of the city and wow, the quality of life bump was astounding. Being able to just walk to anything you need, not owning a car, having so many high end places to eat at and entertainment venues to visit, the huge security benefit of being above ground level, being at the centre of public transport so friends can visit easily. So many…

It’s even better having a single family home in the city. You get all that plus space.

But this plan necessarily only works for tiny numbers of extraordinarily wealthy people.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#117

Post by closeparen » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 7:35 AM UTC

sidlls wrote: post #18

No, it doesn’t. Or at least it depends on where. What the Bay Area needs is more genuine family housing, not small 2BR condos. If the condos were majority 3+ BR I’d have a different opinion. But they aren’t: it’s very hard to find good quality condo housing suitable for a 2-child family that isn’t roughly the same as or more than my 7-figure net worth in cost.

Elephant in the room for family sized units is competition from groups of single professionals. Until these people can get their own small homes, they’re going to squeeze together into whatever they can find.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#118

Post by likpok » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 7:36 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #103

twalla wrote: post #5

A lot of people have a big chunk of their net worth tied up into home equity because it's sort of the "ordained" path to building wealth for the middle class - condos don't see similar appreciation, get hit harder in downturns and are one of the last types of properties to recover in value afterwards. Start incentivizing treating housing as, you know, a place to live rather than a financial instrument and you'll see…

> Start incentivizing treating housing as, you know, a place to live rather than a financial instrument and you'll see plenty more condos. This happens in Japan, but happens mainly as a result of: a. No one sees real estate as a sure shot after the excess of the 80s. b. Declining population means even Tokyo has a lot of extra housing. c. It is easy to rebuild housing, so people rarely buy "used" homes, leaving on the…

Tokyo’s population has constantly risen, even as japan’s has fallen. Tokyo has inexpensive housing because they’ve allowed people to build it. You can compare the chart of new housing growth in Tokyo versus Paris, London and NY, and Tokyo blows them out of the water.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#119

Post by closeparen » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 7:38 AM UTC

more_corn wrote: post #3

Because people don’t Like condos?

Exorbitant prices beg to differ.

Re: The housing market needs more condos

#120

Post by staticman2 » Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 7:43 AM UTC

everforward wrote: post #91

staticman2 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between a project like Surfside and a townhome condominium. Also banning children is illegal in the U.S. unless you have a 55 or older community. I don't know why you wouldn't desire rules about noise if your home is attached to another home where loud neighbors would bother you. But at any rate that concern has nothing to do with condominiums, your HOA in a planned development with detached…

> I don't know why you wouldn't desire rules about noise if your home is attached to another home where loud neighbors would bother you. The level and type of noise that reaches nuisance levels is highly subjective, which leads to conflict between neighbors. You also have no control over your neighbors, so you might be able to practice your guitar for a decade and then suddenly your neighbors move and the new ones do…

Depending on state law and the requirements of the condo bylaws major changes in the condo rules in many projects require a supermajority of residents to vote in favor of such a change, so rule changes aren't necessarily something that can be easily or arbitrarily changed for important aspects of the project.