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low-end housing is simply high-end housing 20 or 30 years in the future That was maybe true in the past, but todays exurban sheetrock palaces are impossible to

low-end housing is simply high-end housing 20 or 30 years in the future That was maybe true in the past, but todays exurban sheetrock palaces are impossible to be turned into low-income/entry-level housing. It starts with the zoning requirements - are you really going to divide a 2500 sqft McMansion into a duplex without an epic zoning fight? And then there's the transportation/parking issue. The real problem is that 1200 sqft entry level housing like it was built in the decade after WW2 isn't made any longer but is urgently needed.

baremetal 4y ago
The new 1200sf entry level house is 2000sf. I've built quite a few of them. It is my understanding that builders are responding to the demand from home buyers, and people that can afford a (starter) home want 2000sf at minimum. Also the costs of a house dont scale linearly[1]. A small home costs almost as much as a 2000sf home. [1]https://www.togal.ai/blog/the-average-cost-to-build-a-house-in-2022 https://www.togal.ai/blog/the-average-cost-to-build-a-house-...
seanmcdirmid 4y ago
> are you really going to divide a 2500 sqft McMansion into a duplex without an epic zoning fight? And then there's the transportation/parking issue. Even in cities with little zoning requirements (like Houston, and heck, even Tokyo), you still see McMansions being built rather than low income housing. Low income housing is still old housing from the 80s/70s, and the problem you are referring to (that housing built today is not very convertible) is one for a sadder future. > The real problem is that 1200 sqft entry level housing like it was built in the decade after WW2 isn't made any longer but is urgently needed. Having shopped for homes in the last few years, there were plenty of 1200 SQFT options in the places I looked at, they were just $700-$800k rather than $900k-$1.1m. Condos are the more realistic options in that case (I saw one I liked for $700k with a reasonable HOA, my wife wasn't having it, however). She preferred a 900 SQF SFH over that, for reasons I couldn't figure out. All were still considered luxury however since they were almost brand new. Note that yes, I live in an expensive area, but usually when we talk about affordable housing, we are talking about places where people want to live (vs. say Detroit).

baremetal 4y ago

The new 1200sf entry level house is 2000sf. I've built quite a few of them. It is my understanding that builders are responding to the demand from home buyers, and people that can afford a (starter) home want 2000sf at minimum. Also the costs of a house dont scale linearly[1]. A small home costs almost as much as a 2000sf home. [1]https://www.togal.ai/blog/the-average-cost-to-build-a-house-in-2022 https://www.togal.ai/blog/the-average-cost-to-build-a-house-...

seanmcdirmid 4y ago

> are you really going to divide a 2500 sqft McMansion into a duplex without an epic zoning fight? And then there's the transportation/parking issue. Even in cities with little zoning requirements (like Houston, and heck, even Tokyo), you still see McMansions being built rather than low income housing. Low income housing is still old housing from the 80s/70s, and the problem you are referring to (that housing built today is not very convertible) is one for a sadder future. > The real problem is that 1200 sqft entry level housing like it was built in the decade after WW2 isn't made any longer but is urgently needed. Having shopped for homes in the last few years, there were plenty of 1200 SQFT options in the places I looked at, they were just $700-$800k rather than $900k-$1.1m. Condos are the more realistic options in that case (I saw one I liked for $700k with a reasonable HOA, my wife wasn't having it, however). She preferred a 900 SQF SFH over that, for reasons I couldn't figure out. All were still considered luxury however since they were almost brand new. Note that yes, I live in an expensive area, but usually when we talk about affordable housing, we are talking about places where people want to live (vs. say Detroit).