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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

#371

Post by secabeen »

rafiki6 wrote: post #255
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…

Transportation time/costs. Supers work because they are in the building (generally), and can respond quickly and be efficient in handling multiple simultaneous issues.

What you describe does exist, it's called property management, and they generally take some %age of your rent.

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

#372

Post by observer12 »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #275
rdiddly wrote: post #268

On one of my harder-hearted days I would've felt schadenfreude (rich assholes waste obscene amounts of money on tacky shit, get burned, film at 11), but today I feel sorry for them. The whole thing is just sad. On the macro level, such a tragic mis-deployment of resources. And on the micro level, misplacing one's priorities on material things and finding out the hard way that it doesn't bring any meaning to your life…

Maybe someone could disrupt the ownership model here and invite a number of families to move in together?

Zoning laws or local regulations (not just HOA) most likely would prevent it. An example is in Seattle some of the most expensive neighborhoods have strict rules that prevent multi-tenancy housing and the people living there actively fight to preserve that.

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

#373

Post by lazyjones »

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…

Someone should come up with a model for younger people to sell to medicine/an insurance and lease back their body. It would be taken care of much better, it’s such a hassle after all to own something and be responsible...

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

#374

Post by ssanders82 »

larrywright wrote: post #226
baron_harkonnen wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gone the full cycle from renting -> own -> renting, and I can tell you that you're forgetting about a lot of the limitations that come with renting. There are a huge number of things that are out of your control and hobbies you simply can't have. Especially if you want to compare apartment to SFH. You can't paint the walls, keep a bicycle outside, grow plants you want, have any loud hobbies, BBQ, even keep your…

I came here to make this same comment - renting forever is probably fine for people who are willing to accept a certain kind of lifestyle, but for most people it's too limiting. Got kids and want a playset in the backyard? Not in an apartment. Want a wall where there isn't one, or remove a wall that you'd rather not have? Again, nope. Want a home theatre with a big subwoofer so you can watch movies at home (one of my…

"Want a home theatre with a big subwoofer so you can watch movies at home (one of my favorites). Nope, not unless you want some angry neighbors."

How is that buy vs rent? Sounds like just house vs apartment?

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

#375

Post by Balgair »

jtolmar wrote: post #369
Balgair wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the lack of 'wealth' that many Millenials are experiencing, it's not only real estate that is going to be affected. Stocks and other areas are also going to feel the effects. Strangely, it's not a lack of supply that will be the issue here, it's a lack of buyers. Millenials just don't have the cash to pay the Boomers for the houses and stocks they accumulated and the Banks can only buy and sell the properties to…

Concentration of wealth won't cause a lack of buyers for stocks. The wealth is still there, the very wealthy will just buy more stock. The value of a stock stacks in a way that the value of additional giant houses doesn't. (Being able to buy ownership of a business, via stock or other means, is why wealth is concentrating in the first place.)

Yes, of course.

But you start getting into monopsony then. The people that you sell to are hyper rich and may pay a fair price, but there are a lot less people overall and their tastes aren't distributed like the general population. It's not the same market at all.

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

#376

Post by lazyjones »

ip26 wrote: post #159
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 hate mowing. I don't care about lawns. But I like being in control. No more moving every year to keep rent low. Update & customize to meet my desires & save money. Grow a garden & wildflowers. Remember the names of my neighbors (because the neighborhood isn't a revolving door). But, I've always loved the long game. Plant trees for shade in ten years. Build a pergola (more shade, cooler house). Replace the old crapp…

If you hate mowing and have the space, consider getting some https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouessant_sheep ... They’re cute too.

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

#377

Post by secabeen »

SwellJoe wrote: post #190

Several of my younger friends live in cooperative housing, where they rent a big house, and individually rent out the rooms. Sometimes as many as 8 or 10 people live in a "single family" home. This seems like a great solution for all parties involved (including cities with very high rents), until you learn that the cities they're in often consider this an illegal use of the property and will force their landlord to e…

There's fun history to that here in California. There was an older woman here in Santa Barbara that ran a house like that. Lots of rented out rooms, they ate communal dinners, but you didn't have to come, etc. The city tried to shut it down, she took it to the state Supreme court, where they ruled in the homeowners' favor, saying essentially "the city doesn't get to decide what a family is. If these people want to call themselves a family, then they are a family, and this is a single-family home."

As such, the restrictions now are on separate dwellings, as defined more by number of kitchens, sub-dividability, etc., not number of people.

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

#378

Post by dmitrybrant »

marssaxman wrote: post #362
dmitrybrant wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point here is "to each their own", and there shouldn't be such a thing as "the" American dream, or rather that the American dream is for every person to live their life exactly as they want. My wife and I would not give up owning our house for anything, and would never go back to renting. I pride myself in being able to make minor repairs to all kinds of things around the house, and seeing them as fun eng…

> I really value peace and quiet, and true peace and quiet can only be achieved in a detached house Irony: one of the few reasons I continue to put up with the hassle of homeownership is that it affords me the freedom to play music as loud as I like, as late at night as I please, without irritating my neighbors.

Good for you for being mindful of other people's desire to live without noise. There should definitely be more of this mindset in apartment buildings and other communal spaces.

And to clarify, I like to play music too, sometimes very loudly. It's just when I don't have control of the noise that I have a problem.

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

#379

Post by zcid »

tathougies wrote: post #344
zcid wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We really need some stronger regulation on renting. I'd like something along the lines of federal rent control. Limit the rent that can be charged to reduce the profitability of buying up house after house. This would be unpopular with the current owners of homes as it would lower property values, but over time they would remain much more stable.

Why federal? The federal government has no authority to do so. Housing is literally, more than any other market, an intra state matter, and the feds cannot regulate intra state trade.

Then we need to fix that. No state will pass legislation along these lines because it will put them at an economic disadvantage to every state that doesn't.

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

#380

Post by tathougies »

hsnewman wrote: post #27

We built a 4200 sq/ft home 8 years ago, now trying to sell it in a gated community. The more expensive homes around ours are selling, ours has sat for over 3 months. We have alot of traffic seeing the house but because it doesn't have all the extras (pool, outdoor kitchen, etc) people are not buying. Sad.

I mean... you bought a house no one wants at the price you want? What do you want us to do? Force someone to buy it from you?

Were you coerced into buying the house? If so, you should probably file a lawsuit claiming fraud. Otherwise, what is your complaint?

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