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Houses lose value by depreciation. In few decades the value is zero, then becomes negative - the price of demolition for the next project. What gains value ove

Houses lose value by depreciation. In few decades the value is zero, then becomes negative - the price of demolition for the next project. What gains value over time is land. Poeple only think they invest in houses, but they are fooling themselves and overspend on the construction and interiors. They pay for land. Easy to prove - construction material and labor are highly mobile. Cement, bricks and imported labor costs the same in New York as in middle of nowhere. The price differs only by transportation costs and temporary lodging of workers. The real difference comes from 1. price of land 2. bribes for construction permits of a respective town. In other words - location is what you pay for. In Japan, this is more explicit. House value drops to zero in 30 years. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusable-housing-revolution https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusabl...

tomc1985 4y ago
Japan also has a cultural habit of demolishing old homes to build new ones, and not building said new homes to last more than 30 years or so. Here, the only time I see old homes getting demolished is to make way for a new apartment block. Hell, the house I am living in appears to have been built some time in the 40s to 50s
contrahax 4y ago
Most of the 1-10M+ homes in NYC, SF, etc. were built 100+ years ago. I know a number of people who live in perfectly nice homes built in the 1700s in rural areas that have consistently kept their values. Homes don’t depreciate and need demolition “within a few decades” if you just keep up with basic maintenance. If you don’t believe my anecdotal evidence, you can do a basic Zillow search and filter by price over 1M and built before 1980 and see how many results you get all over the country. I wish this were true legally - my property tax bill on my 40 year old house would be 0, but sadly it increases every year as my home value appreciates.

tomc1985 4y ago

Japan also has a cultural habit of demolishing old homes to build new ones, and not building said new homes to last more than 30 years or so. Here, the only time I see old homes getting demolished is to make way for a new apartment block. Hell, the house I am living in appears to have been built some time in the 40s to 50s

contrahax 4y ago

Most of the 1-10M+ homes in NYC, SF, etc. were built 100+ years ago. I know a number of people who live in perfectly nice homes built in the 1700s in rural areas that have consistently kept their values. Homes don’t depreciate and need demolition “within a few decades” if you just keep up with basic maintenance. If you don’t believe my anecdotal evidence, you can do a basic Zillow search and filter by price over 1M and built before 1980 and see how many results you get all over the country. I wish this were true legally - my property tax bill on my 40 year old house would be 0, but sadly it increases every year as my home value appreciates.