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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

#251

Post by asark »

rayiner wrote: post #191
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…

So don’t buy a house with a big yard, etc.? We’ve got a house in a waterfront area that was laid out in the 1920s. Back when Americans were still free and there were no zoning codes. The houses are detached, but the lots are tiny (less than 3,000 square feet). No yard to take care of, close to neighbors, etc. And because people own rather than rent, you’re not getting a new set of neighbors every year.

Around here you sacrifice school quality, hard, for almost anything other than a typical big yard, large house, boring suburb house. The intersection between older neighborhoods or any trendy newer ones built more "urban" style and places with schools you'd be happy to send your kids to is practically nil.

YMMV in other places, but that's why we're in a non-walkable boring suburb with dumb, giant yards making the distance to the nearest pools and parks (and everything else) further than they need to be.

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

#252

Post by mox1 »

cblum wrote: post #204
LarryDarrell wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I call the super they drag their feet, do a half-assed job, take a dump in my bathroom, and then I get a rent increase for "improvements" they've made to the property. I used to own a 1000 sq ft cape cod that was built in 1942. I fixed everything myself and since it was small, nothing could really get out of hand. I believe most of the pain involved in home owning lately has come from bigger houses with more com…

Did you enjoy making repairs though? In my experience that’s what makes people either love or hate owning their place. Personally I loathe doing any kind of maintenance work. I hate dealing with drywall, paint, wiring, pipes, and whatever else you have to deal with when maintaining a home.

As an engineer (software) who owns his own SFH, I absolutely love doing repairs to my house.

I preemptively replaced my water system this spring (electric to gas heater, added water softener). Took me a whole week (5-10pm work) and lots of pre-planning, but every time I walk downstairs I can't help but admire all the coppers lines I piped in. I dunno it was kinda like Hello World of the building trades, hearing the heater kick in after all was done was awesome.

Now, I've worked with my hands my whole life and have done tons of smallerish projects around this house, but this was the biggest one I tackled. Saved me 3-5k I'm sure and it really gave me a sense of accomplishment.

To each is own though.

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

#253

Post by rifung »

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…

> 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 had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now, despite living in bumblefudge-nowhere Midwest).

Not saying you're wrong but at least where I've lived, I could very easily find a new place to live in 60 days. I think usually landlords give the terms of a new lease much less than 60 days away from the end of the current lease, and most people usually don't decide to move or stay before they know how much their current place is going to cost.

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

#254

Post by zaccus »

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?

No. People who rent are not homeless. That's ridiculous.

This kind of semantic babble only serves to cloud people's judgment. For some people, owning makes more sense. For others, renting makes more sense. Not sure what is hard to understand about that.

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

#255

Post by rafiki6 »

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…

Hmm, that leads to a really interesting business idea (if it doesn't already exist). The reason a building can have a super is because there's scale. You only really need 1 super to deal with multiple units and overall building issues. Why not start a business where people pay a small monthly subscription fee (effectively as some kind of insurance premium), where a service person can come fix their home issues? This wouldn't be much different from renting an apartment but the key is that with renting your rent includes a portion the landlord should be reserving for maintenance and to pay the super/property manager. This would be the same as condo maintenance/strata fees basically. For major repairs, it's the same thing as being a landlord/owning a condo. Most the time major repairs aren't covered in fees, and you should have a reserve fund. Maybe this business can actually manage that for you and leverage scale of having multiple homes.

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

#256

Post by cosmodisk »

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 grew up in a small house with about 700m2(7500sq ft) land around it. I didn't like moving lawn or watering plans and veg in our small garden.I moved out to live on my own when I was about 19 and have been living in flats ever since.I bloody hate flats.. There's always some bastard neighbor who ruins the whole thing, you can't even go outside and have a bbq,not to mention the lack of privacy or space for kids to play...While I'm not an American, I do see the appeal of house ownership and still not losing hope to have one day at some point in my life.

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

#257

Post by JeffreyKaine »

asark wrote: post #237
ip26 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse, they make them bigger for the same price by cutting quality.

And walls. "Open concept" might look great in photos and provide good "wow" factor, and it's definitely cheaper to build, but it's also a great way to make a lot of square footage feel small when you live in it. Contrast smaller, older houses with lots of smaller rooms, which can often feel as big as much larger, newer houses. Unfortunately, at least in our market, there's not much built in the last 20 years where th…

What would you use all of the extra rooms for? One room for each person to sleep, a laundry room, a couple bathrooms, and a great room with living, dining, and kitchen is all you ever really need right?

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

#258

Post by whenchamenia »

rifung wrote: post #253
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…

> 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 had 12% yearly rental increases for a decade straight now, despite living in bumblefudge-nowhere Midwest). Not saying you're wrong but at least where I've lived, I…

For a family, 60 days to pack everythig you own, and move, while supporting everyone is not easy at best, and untenable at worst. When I was single this was not the case.

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

#259

Post by pmoriarty »

There's a great documentary called The Queen of Versailles about a rich family who bought a McMansion shortly before the recession of 2008.

https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Queen-of-Versailles/702292...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_Versailles

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

#260

Post by cosmodisk »

mox1 wrote: post #252
cblum wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you enjoy making repairs though? In my experience that’s what makes people either love or hate owning their place. Personally I loathe doing any kind of maintenance work. I hate dealing with drywall, paint, wiring, pipes, and whatever else you have to deal with when maintaining a home.

As an engineer (software) who owns his own SFH, I absolutely love doing repairs to my house. I preemptively replaced my water system this spring (electric to gas heater, added water softener). Took me a whole week (5-10pm work) and lots of pre-planning, but every time I walk downstairs I can't help but admire all the coppers lines I piped in. I dunno it was kinda like Hello World of the building trades, hearing the h…

Plumbing, woodwork,and even concrete work can be very enjoyable and rewarding experiences when done for your own purposes and very occasionally.
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