Author Topic: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?  (Read 20347 times)

spartana

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« Last Edit: June 24, 2023, 12:11:34 AM by spartana »

maizefolk

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2019, 09:14:30 AM »
I have zero quantitative data to back this up, but I think waiting until the new house is up might make more sense.

People in general (and home buyers in particular) tend to overweight uncertainty and risk in assigning value. If people tour her house while construction is getting started next door, my guess is that they will value the property based on their worst case ideas about what the new mansion may look like and do to quality of life in your friend's lot. Once it is built, it'll detract from quality of life, but by a known amount.

Would be interested to hear the views of others as well.

honeyfill

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2019, 09:32:58 AM »
One of my sisters went through the same thing in a near Chicago neighborhood about 20 years ago.  By the time she sold, 1/2 dozen homes had been bulldozed and new McMansions had been built out to the lot lines in their place. She did very well, as the price of her lot skyrocketed.
In her case, it worked out well, because after the first few houses were built , the rate in the rise of  lot prices slowed back to the average rise in the area.  In other words, the increase is priced in fully after only 3-4 homes are built.   She captured all of the excess price rise and sold out before the neighborhood character changed completely
 
In light of that, I agree with Maizeman.  Wait until the first house is built and people can see that the neighbor hood is definitively starting to turn. However do not wait until more than three or four new ones are built because your lot prices will not appreciate any more quickly after that. 
The only risk is that after the first one is built , more people do not follow suit and build more McMansions.
Your lot price could then drop.  Only you can estimate this risk, but it seems small compared to the potential increase in lot price by waiting. 

former player

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2019, 09:37:37 AM »
It may depend on whether a buyer would be a professional developer who would be selling on (who will already have the development next door as an easy guide to the potential of your friend's lot and who won't care about the work in progress because it will be done by the time they sell on) or an amateur/personal developer (either living there or renting out) who will need to see the completed work next door in order to see what's possible as they won't have the knowledge or imagination to work it out without the concrete example in front of them.

I guess your friend needs the best real estate agent in the immediate neighbourhood to advise her.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2019, 12:47:29 PM »
Since the buyer of the house would almost certainly be a developer, I doubt they care either way so the price would probably about the same.

Telecaster

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2019, 03:54:04 PM »
I sold my small 1950s 1000 sf house on an 8000 sf lot last year. It has sat empty since then but yesterday my former next door neighbor (small lot and house like mine) sent me some photos showing it was bulldozed and the owners plan to build 2 houses on the property. One a 2 story 4000 sf 7 bedroom/7 bathroom house plus 3 or 4 car garage, and an 800sf 2 bedroom/2 bathroom single story house. These will pretty much be lot line to lot line - I think the set back is around 4 feet from her property line - and likely tower over my neighbors house and yard.

So she is rightly freaked out and wants to sell but unsure if she should wait until the fancy behemoth is built or GTFO now. Which way would increase selling price - a vacant lot with a big build going on or a finished mcmansion with probably a million people (and their cars) living there? She also would sell it as a teardown because no one touches the small houses there even if highly upgraded and modernized.  All the permits are approved and the build and it is going forward asap. That is a common type of built in SoCal when people buy up the small old houses. TIA.

That type of thing is happening to my neighborhood in Seattle too.  My neighborhood is mostly post WWII, small houses.   Four houses on my street (in one block) have been scraped and rebuilt as luxury homes.   That says to me the value of my house is almost entirely in the land.  And that's probably true for your friend as well.  Since the value is in the land, it probably doesn't matter too much when she sells.  But as a SWAG, it might be better to wait until after they build and sell the McMansions, because that's proof of concept that the tear down model is viable in your neighborhood.   

...which leaves me a little torn.   If my house's value is mostly in the land, I could scrap it myself, rebuild with a McMansion, and then sell it.   Because I bought before the huge run-up in real estate, my cost basis would be much lower than the new McMansion down the street.  Like $550K lower.   If those guys are making money, I could make even more.   But I've put considerable sweat equity into my house and yard and I've become attached.  I realize it is foolish to become attached to inanimate objects, yet here I am. 


Saving in Austin

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2019, 04:21:44 PM »
This happened to my house in Austin. Right next door a 4 bedroom house took the place of a 2 bedroom cottage. The whole neighborhood has gone up in price before, during and after construction. If they want to avoid listening to the construction they could sell now. But I think that potential buyers might not want to listen to the construction either. A fancier house next door and two more on the street right above us have only increased the value of the surrounding homes.

ysette9

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2019, 09:37:11 PM »
I’ve been watching similar things happen in my neighborhood where the land value is crazy. Cute 1950s bungalow make way for 4000 ft^2 luxury monstrosities selling for $2-3M. I’ve wondered the same thing: if i razed my little house and built some massive something to flip, I could probably walk away  with $500k+. But I like my house and have zero interest in going to all of that trouble or putting so many financial eggs in one basket.

It makes for a bit of a weird neighborhood being that it is a mix of somewhat unkept old little house, nicely remodeled old little house, giant new houses, 1990s soul-less ranch crap, and everything in between. I like how eclectic it is, but the trend is clear as this is one of the few pockets of relative affordability left in my area.

I suppose for us in this position we just wait to see how things go and be grateful that it doesn’t seem to be negatively impacting our equity?

Cassie

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2019, 10:43:22 PM »
It seems crazy that people don’t want a yard but all house.

Linea_Norway

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2019, 12:20:52 AM »
It seems crazy that people don’t want a yard but all house.

A bit down the hill of my house, a developing company built 3 similar high end houses, in very modern style. The look great from within, but have no yard at all. It is just the house. Now, several years later, only one house has been sold, even though they have tried to sell for a reduced price.. I guess people want a yard after all.

jpdx

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2019, 12:56:54 AM »
7 bathrooms? What the hell is wrong with people?

former player

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2019, 01:55:46 AM »
7 bathrooms? What the hell is wrong with people?
I've seen that near me.  The master bedroom has his and hers bathrooms, all the other bedrooms need their own en suite, there is a "spare" bathroom on the upper floor just because, and on the ground floor there is a cloakroom for guests and another one off the utility (presumably for whatever servant is cooking in the kitchen).  The house is then empty for most of the year.  Madness.

Hula Hoop

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2019, 02:37:01 AM »
That is completely insane.  I live in apartment and therefore have no yard.  I can't imagine choosing to live in a house with no yard.  Why not just live in an apartment?

BicycleB

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2019, 05:04:06 AM »
Sounds like a situation where different people will have different values in mind, both in the financial and the emotional sense. Ideas:

-Like @former player said, get professional advice. Maybe find someone with specific expertise in "teardowns"?
-Research / network through real estate groups or forums to find people who do these flips (to find the person above)
-I've heard a rule of thumb that building is profitable when the structure is worth 4x the lot value. Maybe use that to:
--determine whether the neigbhor's plan appears economically viable
--figure out the value of the lot based on similar construction
--don't sell unless you get the higher of appraised land value or value according the 4x rule

Will defer to more knowledgeable posters as they continue to comment.

former player

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #14 on: April 28, 2019, 08:47:25 AM »
7 bathrooms? What the hell is wrong with people?
I've seen that near me.  The master bedroom has his and hers bathrooms, all the other bedrooms need their own en suite, there is a "spare" bathroom on the upper floor just because, and on the ground floor there is a cloakroom for guests and another one off the utility (presumably for whatever servant is cooking in the kitchen).  The house is then empty for most of the year.  Madness.
I guess I should have clarified that this is in a very large Asian-American/Vietnamese immigrant community and it's extremely common to have large groups of people living together in one or 2 ginormous houses on one small lot. Also AirBNBs are common even if technically illegal. Foreign student housing and laborours who come there to work in the shops and restaurants are all common. Heck even large housing is built for small Buddhist Monasteries are common (at least the monks don't...usually...have cars ;-)). So not only will there be a huge building, it will likely have many people living there. Legally they can have 18 people living in 9 bedrooms (and each with its own bath) but illegally it could have many more. So I think ALL the bathrooms will get used ;-). It sounds like the owner and his family will be living in the ADU and so they will probably rent out the main house to 7 or more people - as a big group or individually. Lots of traffic and parking issues as most of the other houses have numerous extended family living there or rent rooms in their homes.

Ah.  Here in the UK that would be called a "house in multiple occupation" which would need to be licensed by the local authority and meet certain safety and amenity standards, and there would probably be a limit on how many were allowed in any one neighbourhood.  And something that size probably wouldn't get planning permission in a residential neighbourhood in the first place because it would be overdevelopment.

Cassie

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #15 on: April 28, 2019, 10:17:25 AM »
In her financial situation I would probably stay.  I spend more time in my house than outside but would be annoying if she is outside more than in.

nessness

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2019, 06:36:17 PM »
I decided not to buy a house that I otherwise loved because the owners were selling half the lot separately (they were on a 1-acre lot and split it into house+1/2 acre lot and a vacant 1/2 acre lot). There was just too much uncertainty not knowing what the other owner would build, and I didn't want to live next to a construction site for months. So given that, I would think she'd have an easier time selling once the construction is done.

Villanelle

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #17 on: April 28, 2019, 07:11:28 PM »
She might see if she can get in contact with the new owners next door and see if they'd like to buy her home to add on to their compound.  What's the harm in asking?  And if she arranges the sale herself, she save the real estate fees. 

dougules

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2019, 11:42:27 AM »
Why is she so freaked out about the new houses? 

Does she actually not want to live next to the new houses, or is she just worried about the future of the neighborhood?  I think worry about the future of the neighborhood is unwarranted because it sounds like if anything it's going to get fancier. 

If she's worried about living next to the new houses, maybe she should hold out and see if her fears are really founded.  It probably won't be as big a change as she's worried about when the construction dust settles. 

FWIW, keeping tiny little houses on big lots is what's behind the housing crisis in California.  The developer is doubling the supply of housing units on that lot to counter what's clearly a really high demand. 

It seems crazy that people don’t want a yard but all house.

I'd like to just enough yard for a vegetable garden and a tree.  A lot of yard is just a pain here in the jungle, and it's just more sprawl.  Unfortunately people seem to have decided that they need to government mandate yard size to the detriment of the environment, housing affordability, and those of us who don't feel that God ordained yard work as a virtue. 

Cassie

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #19 on: April 29, 2019, 12:13:56 PM »
No one is mandating yard size.  But having no yard I find odd. We have 2 patios because one has table and chairs to eat and the one at the back of the yard has a fire pit. We like to entertain in the summer and can invite more people than fit in our small home.  We also have a small garden and a shed to hold stuff. We sit outside everyday in good weather.  Our yard is not huge.

BicycleB

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #20 on: April 29, 2019, 12:27:20 PM »
No one is mandating yard size. 

With all due respect, city zoning codes often mandate things like "percentage of impervious cover", which have the effect of requiring that portions of each normal residential lot are basically yard.

In most areas of my city, it's illegal to just build all house.

dougules

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #21 on: April 29, 2019, 02:21:45 PM »
No one is mandating yard size.  But having no yard I find odd. We have 2 patios because one has table and chairs to eat and the one at the back of the yard has a fire pit. We like to entertain in the summer and can invite more people than fit in our small home.  We also have a small garden and a shed to hold stuff. We sit outside everyday in good weather.  Our yard is not huge.

We perceive it as odd because yard size has been part of zoning for more than half a century now.  We're accostumed to seeing only big yards because anything else is illegal in so many places.  There are a lot of older urban areas where independent houses with very small yards are common.  DH is from PA where there are a lot of row houses.  New Orleans has shotgun houses that have just enough space on either side for some airflow given the hot climate.

Cassie

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #22 on: April 29, 2019, 02:57:58 PM »
Housing here is becoming scarce and expensive.  In some of the older neighborhoods they are building new homes with just a tiny strip of yard around the entire house. 

robartsd

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #23 on: April 29, 2019, 03:57:41 PM »
Thanks. I think she is still in shock about this having just found out on Friday when the giant bulldozer started knocking down the house (I guess city planners don't need to let people who own adjacent homes with shared lot lines know that something like that will be built).
I don't think notification of neighbors is usually required unless applying for a zoning change or a variance.

Abe

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #24 on: April 29, 2019, 09:15:00 PM »
I think she'd get a better price with a finished house next door (at least the exterior) rather than a construction site. Hopefully the noise won't be too annoying.

Regarding house/yard ratios:
I'm moving to a similar neighborhood (probably close to the same city you're talking about) and noticed the yards are pretty small. At least there's a big park next to the neighborhood to compensate. While it is more efficient and ecologically sound to have higher-density housing, it is a bit annoying to have such close neighbors. Oh well.


Goldielocks

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #25 on: April 30, 2019, 12:15:48 PM »
Any chance there might be organizations that could help her find subsidized housing, given her low income and the disabled child? Maybe you could help her navigate that process, at least to see if there are options.  There might be waiting lists, but if she gets on them now that is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
I don't know much about subsidized housing or lower income housing but she would probably make to much to qualify anyways. I think she'd have a hard time qualifying for a mortgage around her area even with using all the proceeds from a sale of her place. So renting would likely be the only option. At least that's what I would do. My only recommendation to her would be to wait a bit before deciding (don't freak out and d do something irreversible), talk to some people about potentially selling and look around to see what's available in case she does decide to sell asap.

To answer @dougules question about why she's afraid of a new house being built - its not because its a new house, its because its a 2 story 7 bedroom and 7 bathroom house plus a second 2 bedroom 2 bath house. It will be 4 feet from her property line and 8 feet from her house and literally loom over her house and yard. Plus the potential 18 plus people who could legally live there (common in that area) or an AirBNB. The house is the last house on a culdasac with very limited parking and she's afraid it will be constant people, cars, noise, and traffic in and out all day everyday. So it's mainly the potential intrusiveness of having so many people in a small area just a few feet from you, combined with a story story house practically on top of a little house not that's it new or even large.

Yep.  The two biggest issues are
-- huge house shading / removing privacy and enjoyment of your own back yard...  removal of old beautiful trees that benefit you and
--the parking problem

The parking issue can often be dealt with through calling city bylaw officers to ticket offending vehicles.  I resolve it by asking people to leave the required distance from my driveway free when they park.   Nice notes with my name on them.  Neighbors are complying, so all is good so far.   

The third problem is noise / impact potential.. but honestly, my single neighbor with the loud drunk partieis until 3am on a small SFH on a large lot (hence outdoor parties).. and the one who repairs motorcycles in their yard (loud!)  is a much larger issue than the multi-family homes around me.

The fourth problem is real -- 4 ft from lot lines.  If there is any concern about new construction impacting her foundations, then she may want a preliminary geotech report on the baseline before construction starts.  She could ask her insurance company the best way to protect her home if the construction causes damage.   This is more common if there are retaining walls / differing elevations between the properties.

mm1970

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #26 on: April 30, 2019, 01:03:32 PM »
It seems crazy that people don’t want a yard but all house.
Yards need maintenance.

In California, the world is your yard.  The beach, the parks, the bike paths.
Either that or you are working 60 hrs a week to pay for the house, so you don't get to go outside anyway.

To the OP: I'd probably wait.  It seems like gentrification brings up house values, in general.  At least here on the Central Coast anyway.

dougules

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #27 on: April 30, 2019, 03:08:58 PM »
To answer @dougules question about why she's afraid of a new house being built - its not because its a new house, its because its a 2 story 7 bedroom and 7 bathroom house plus a second 2 bedroom 2 bath house. It will be 4 feet from her property line and 8 feet from her house and literally loom over her house and yard. Plus the potential 18 plus people who could legally live there (common in that area) or an AirBNB. The house is the last house on a culdasac with very limited parking and she's afraid it will be constant people, cars, noise, and traffic in and out all day everyday. So it's mainly the potential intrusiveness of having so many people in a small area just a few feet from you, combined with a story story house practically on top of a little house not that's it new or even large.

The construction will probably be a PITA, but there's a good chance it won't be as bad as she's fearing when it's done.  It sounds like she's panicking.  If it were me I'd stick it out to see if it really is as bad as it seems at first blush.  There's also the fact that if she does decide to leave she'll probably get more for it when it's not next to a construction site, unless she sells to a developer as a tear-down. 

Another Reader

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Re: House next door razed. Giant mcmansion to be built. Sell now or wait?
« Reply #28 on: April 30, 2019, 03:58:07 PM »
I think her real issue is whether she wants to own or rent.  The selling expenses and the house being one of the lowest priced properties in the area likely preclude buying another home in the area.  She can move someplace less expensive or she can rent locally if she wants to stay. Rents go up over time, and she could be forced to move when that happens.  Her best choice might be to tolerate the new neighbors and stay if owning her home and staying in the area are important to her. 

If/when she does move, she may be able to take her property tax basis with her under Prop 60/90 if she is over 55.  That might help make another purchase feasible.

mm1970

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^I think she would ideally like to own her place forever but not sure if she'd want to own elsewhere in the area or rent. I think she just doesn't want to be next to a giant house with lots of people and parking issues for years. I don't even think the on going construction would  bother her (quiet and people-less at night and she works during the day) but she is concerned about the end product. Especially after seeing some of the other giant house builds next to small houses around the area. But the general consensus here seems to be wait and see and I agree.

I also think part of it is just NIMBY-ism. You move into a suburban, lightly populated tract of SFHs years ago and it is basically turning into multi-family apt units (with no parking) even though its zoned for SFHs.
I am sympathetic to this view.

I like my house and neighborhood.  Then the CA governor signed the ADU law and it pissed me off.  Now the next-door neighbors and a bunch of other people in the hood are converting garages and adding apartments, with no new parking.  Now, it's no real sweat to me - we have 2 cars and 2 off street spots.  But there's no parking if people come visit, and everyone on the planet has a big fucking SUV so we can't see to pull out of our driveway (we've had two cars T-boned, one of them totaled).

I have to admit though, our city ALSO instituted an AUD program - average unit density, allowing for higher density than typical in the city center with less parking - to help make housing more affordable.  It's been an utter, dismal failure.  The first apartments built under that program are luxury apartments that rent for $3000-5000 a month ($3000 for a 1 bedroom).  They are half empty, in a town with 1% vacancy.

OTOH, our city REQUIRES that any ADU be owner-occupied.  That seems to be a good thing.  If you live on the property, you seem to care more about who rents your place and how well it's kept up and how many cars are on the street.  So originally I thought the AUD was great and the ADU sucked, but I've flipped.  Turns out local homeowners are better at taking care of the 'hood compared to developers.

Parking is the big issue.  This is CA not DC.  People have cars.

Another Reader

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"Parking is the big issue.  This is CA not DC.  People have cars."

Yes, they have them and they want to use them.  There is no public transit in the Southern Bay Area except buses that no one rides and the light rail to nowhere.  There is some private transport provided by large corporate employers, but that is nowhere near enough to impose reduced parking requirements based on fanciful projections of mass transit use.

And almost all the new housing is oriented to highly paid professionals.  There are a few subsidized housing projects, but nothing for the old-style middle class.

Thinking of building an ADU before I move to maximize the rental income of the current property.  The last City-sponsored seminar on ADU's was oversubscribed, but I plan to attend the next one.

dougules

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If you have a decent size lot, why is parking an issue?  You have room for a driveway and/or garage. 

Another Reader

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If you have a decent size lot, why is parking an issue?  You have room for a driveway and/or garage.

When you have 9 bedrooms in two units on a 5,000 sf lot, there is no room for parking. 

Most new construction here is multi-story condos and apartments.  Densities up to 60 units per acre.  Some townhouses with one or two car garages.  Little or no additional parking on site.  The surrounding lower density single family neighborhoods are the recipients of all the extra cars, parked on their streets.  It creates an unpleasant, hostile environment in those neighborhoods.

robartsd

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The parking issue is easily solved by petitioning the city to make on street parking permit based. Each lot would have the opportunity to get one or two permits to park on the street in their neighborhood.

dougules

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If you have a decent size lot, why is parking an issue?  You have room for a driveway and/or garage.

When you have 9 bedrooms in two units on a 5,000 sf lot, there is no room for parking. 

Most new construction here is multi-story condos and apartments.  Densities up to 60 units per acre.  Some townhouses with one or two car garages.  Little or no additional parking on site.  The surrounding lower density single family neighborhoods are the recipients of all the extra cars, parked on their streets.  It creates an unpleasant, hostile environment in those neighborhoods.

I meant for the existing residents that still have houses much smaller than the lot.  I almost never need street parking because I have plenty of driveway and a 2 car carport.  As my neighborhood becomes more and more student focused, my older neighbor likes to complain about the uptick in cars parked along the street.  It seems like a non-issue to me, though. 


dougules

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If you have a decent size lot, why is parking an issue?  You have room for a driveway and/or garage.

When you have 9 bedrooms in two units on a 5,000 sf lot, there is no room for parking. 

Most new construction here is multi-story condos and apartments.  Densities up to 60 units per acre.  Some townhouses with one or two car garages.  Little or no additional parking on site.  The surrounding lower density single family neighborhoods are the recipients of all the extra cars, parked on their streets.  It creates an unpleasant, hostile environment in those neighborhoods.

I meant for the existing residents that still have houses much smaller than the lot.  I almost never need street parking because I have plenty of driveway and a 2 car carport.  As my neighborhood becomes more and more student focused, my older neighbor likes to complain about the uptick in cars parked along the street.  It seems like a non-issue to me, though.
All of the houses there, even in the original small houses, have 2 car garages and at least two car driveways. So back in the day it was enough. But now most houses have more people with cars living in them then they have room to park and most don't use their garages for parking. There are only a few houses who only have 4 cars or less.

How can you complain about newcomers if you're already part of the "problem"?

dougules

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BTW, let your neighbor know she can get a house in Alabama for $100k with more than ample parking. 

mm1970

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If you have a decent size lot, why is parking an issue?  You have room for a driveway and/or garage.
My lot is 5200 sf, but it used to be part of a double lot.  In the 1950s, it was legally split front-to-back.
So I have a house BEHIND my house, and the 100 ft long driveway goes to his house and his garage (that used to belong to our house, before it was our house).

So usable space, for us, goes down.  We cannot park in the driveway.  We have 2 off street spots in the front "yard" (as required by zoning).  And only 2 cars and 2 drivers, but what if we get a 3rd car when the teen starts to drive?  (This is unlikely).

Likewise, the back neighbor, at one point, had 4 cars and a motorcycle and 3 bicycles, for one guy.  He's down to 2 SUVs and a motorcycle and the bikes.

Across the street, many of the houses have smaller setbacks.  So, the driveway is only one car wide and one car deep, with a one car garage.  As many of the houses were built in 1940s and 1950s, the one car garage won't actually fit most cars.  I have friends with 2 big cars (they have 4 kids), an RV (which is parked in the driveway), and a work truck.  That's 3 cars on the street for one house.  Many of the other houses nearby are similar - extended family in one house with 4 cars.   3BR rental with 3 single people and 3 cars (but only driveway space for a single car).  Then the ADUs, which add 1-2 cars to a house because you are adding 1-2 drivers.  But not added parking.

dougules

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What can I say?  If you try to have one car per person in a large urban area the system breaks down.  It sounds like the area is running up against that fact.  Trying to stop building to improve parking is just going to make housing even more expensive than it already is there. 

Cassie

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Wow that’s small as our lot is 7500.

Fomerly known as something

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Wait.

This happened in my most recent neighborhood although not McMansion size but 2x the size of the old house.  I had one of the new ones, one of the first new ones.  The owner behind me sold for $45,000 shortly after I moved in, current tear downs began to go for at least 6 figures 3-4 years later.

dougules

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That's true but my former hood isn't urban it's suburban. Approx 40-50  miles from LA and doesn't really have urban transportation structure. A few slow buses here and there but that's it. So for most here a car is needed. The area itself is mainly single story single family tract homes (very like the Edward Scissorhands photo I showed) with various shopping/commercial areas nearby and some light industry as well as a couple of big employers further out. Not a city with high rises (2 story structures were the max for  residential until last year) and no urban core.

 The hood is zoned for SFHs and doesn't have the kind of parking infrastructure that an area zoned for multifamily has like large parking structures for all the residents So with the increase of large SFHs with multiple tenants, parking becomes very tight. The city has been building g a lot of apts near the business and commercial.areas the last year or so, with lots of parking, but the prices are high so room rentals in very large houses are a common thing now. Personally I think it will end up as an AirBNB since this is in a tourist area.

What's driving the increase in prices and density that far out?  That's kind of surprising. 

Blindsquirrel

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   I think she should chill a bit before she sells. If area is going commercial, the value of her place goes up. (even if just used as a parking lot. If her area remains residential, when the monster house next door sells, her comps will go through the roof. 2 cents and worth less. :)

Blindsquirrel

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   Seems like a reasonable plan and kudos to someone who builds a small house and a large one and then rents out the large one. :)

mm1970

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Wow that’s small as our lot is 7500.

It's not even that small.  Closer to "downtown" there are a number of "flag lots" that are 3500 sf, some with zero off street parking.  The homes that were more suburban and built in the 1960s and 1970s are a bit larger as far as lot and home sizes go.  More like 7000 sf lots not 5000 sf.  But for the homes built in the 1920s-1940s?  If you were working class, 5000 sf + a little (1/11 to 1/12 of an acre) were standard here.  (There are also some much larger homes on larger lots, Victorian style, etc. build in the 1890s-1940s, but they were for the wealthy folk).

Quote
What's driving the increase in prices and density that far out?  That's kind of surprising.

Population. 

I have a running cohort who is in her early 60s and is really pissed at the growth, density, traffic, etc.  So many ADUs going in, and she scrimped and paid a lot to buy her house and now it's getting crowded.  Like I said, I have sympathy for both sides.  The younger and poorer folk who have no chance of buying a home here want more growth, so at least rents will be more competitive.  The people who have preferred the no growth policies (because they like their 'hoods the way they are) say "you can't afford to live here, go somewhere else."  I feel her pain (she probably bought the house on her own), but a few quick google searches tells me she bought a $325k house 20 years ago that's worth $800k now.

When obv, the answer is in the middle and everyone is going to be unhappy. 

Cassie

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ADU’s were going to be allowed in our neighborhood if your lot was 10,000. However, the neighborhood mobilized and the ordinance was not changed to allow it.

dougules

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ADU’s were going to be allowed in our neighborhood if your lot was 10,000. However, the neighborhood mobilized and the ordinance was not changed to allow it.

And hence the root of the housing crisis. 

dougules

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^ population growth AND 30 million people wanting to live by the beach ;-).

I think the extended LA metro area sees this kind of suburban sprawl more than other large cities because you are hemmed in by the ocean, the mountains and deserts so sprawling further out and building is (comparatively) limited. I imagine more far out suburbs and smaller cities will start having the same issues and OC and other areas currently have as the LA metro area continues sprawls. Probably more "apt-like" boarding house/multiple room rental/AirBNB housing structures built in areas zoned for SFHs in.the future.

This is probably true.  This area gets around the issue by just sprawling out further and further.  It works for a smaller city, but at a certain point it breaks down even for cities like Atlanta and Dallas that have tons of land around them.  A 30 mile commute becomes less and less feasible when traffic goes from an average of 40 mph to an average of 15 mph. 

mm1970

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ADU’s were going to be allowed in our neighborhood if your lot was 10,000. However, the neighborhood mobilized and the ordinance was not changed to allow it.

And hence the root of the housing crisis.
One reason why the CA governor signed the law.  Literally cities cannot prevent it - they can set up reasonable limitations - which our city has done by requiring it to be owner occupied.

dougules

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ADU’s were going to be allowed in our neighborhood if your lot was 10,000. However, the neighborhood mobilized and the ordinance was not changed to allow it.

And hence the root of the housing crisis.
So I take it that if you were a long term homeowner in a tract of small houses you'd be OK with them building large high rise apt complexes on 3 sides of your house? Or even a 2 or 3 story mcmansions across the full lot? A lot of us support building small ADUs but its the building extremely large houses or multi-unit apts/housing/AirBNBs and ADUs on one small lot that is the problem for many homeowners.

In any case I didn't want this thread to get political as I was only looking to see how others would feel about something like a giant house with lots of people going up next door to them and if it would cause them to move and, if so, whether it was best to wait until finished or sell asap.

Sorry I took it in a political direction.  It struck a nerve because I hate living in suburbia, but because of politics I don't really have any better option. 

I don't think it would bother me personally to have larger units next to me once the construction was done, but I understand how it would bother other folks.  Infrastructural inertia means that somebody's going to lose as cities grow.