High cost of housing

senior chef

senior chef

Senior Member
Locally, here in San Diego, the cost of the AVERAGE home has jumped from $315,000 in 2010 to $650,000 in 2020.
The result is that an increasing percantage of people can not afford to buy a home. The price has DOUBLED in only ten years. This, in return, has forced tens of thousands of San Diego residents to buy homes SOUTH OF THE BORDER. Now, homes in TJ are starting to skyrocket.

The simple fact of the matter is that builders are not building homes to keep up with demand. A major cause of the shortage of homes is the result not only of over-population , but because the U. S. has an "open door" policy for new immigrants.

Gov'ts, both local and federal, could help this situation by granting special tax status for builders who build for the lower half of the economic scale. (Much the same that happens for Habitat for Humanity).

It is NOT necessary for every home to have 3-4 bathrooms. For first time buyers, ONE BATHROOM is sufficient. To save costs, perhaps no garage but merely a driveway. TWO bedroom homes would help millions of people.

I have forgotten the name of the federal program which built millions of homes for returning vets after WW2.
We desperately need the same type of federal program... NOW !
 

senior chef said:
Locally, here in San Diego, the cost of the AVERAGE home has jumped from $315,000 in 2010 to $650,000 in 2020.
The result is that an increasing percantage of people can not afford to buy a home. The price has DOUBLED in only ten years. This, in return, has forced tens of thousands of San Diego residents to buy homes SOUTH OF THE BORDER. Now, homes in TJ are starting to skyrocket.

The simple fact of the matter is that builders are not building homes to keep up with demand. A major cause of the shortage of homes is the result not only of over-population , but because the U. S. has an "open door" policy for new immigrants.

Gov'ts, both local and federal, could help this situation by granting special tax status for builders who build for the lower half of the economic scale. (Much the same that happens for Habitat for Humanity).

It is NOT necessary for every home to have 3-4 bathrooms. For first time buyers, ONE BATHROOM is sufficient. To save costs, perhaps no garage but merely a driveway. TWO bedroom homes would help millions of people.

I have forgotten the name of the federal program which built millions of homes for returning vets after WW2.
We desperately need the same type of federal program... NOW !
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Who do you think are building the homes? Immigrants. And the US doesn't have enough of them.

Also, builders are not building smaller houses because they do not make money on them. When we moved to Dallas, we met with a builder who indicated the land is so valuable he would not build a 3 bedroom/2 bath house on it because he could not make any money.

Sorry, but your logic is flawed.
 
dseag2 said:
Who do you think are building the homes? Immigrants. And the US doesn't have enough of them.

Also, builders are not building smaller houses because they do not make money on them. When we moved to Dallas, we met with a builder who indicated the land is so valuable he would not build a 3 bedroom/2 bath house on it because he could not make any money.

Sorry, but your logic is flawed.
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Sorry, but I STRONGLY disagree with you. Habitat for Humanity seems to be doing quite well. If absolutely necessary the U.S. Corps of engineers could undertake the home building project. In any event, the goal would NOT be to make huge profits , but rather to build low cost homes.

I'd be willing to bet that there are literally thousands of capable, under employed, builders who would be happy to take on the projects. There are builders and there are builders. Not all of them all quite so greedy as the one you encountered in Dallas.

Moreover, I do not believe that ANYTHING is impossible.
 
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Alligatorob said:
Is it practical to commute across the border? How long does that take?

Otherwise why not?
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Yes, I've wondered about the very same thing. The border at Tijuana/San Ysidro, CA is INCREDIBLY busy. In fact, it is the busiest land border crossing in the world. During the day, it takes anywhere from 3 -5 hours to cross by car. Even at 3 am, it takes 1.5 hour to cross by car.
Crossing by foot is also difficult. For those who can afford it, there is a special card, checked out by the FBI, called SENTRE , costs $275 USD. and you can walk through in less than 25 minutes. For all others, even U.S. citizens, the wait can be up to 3+ hours standing in the hot sun.
 
senior chef said:
Sorry, but I STRONGLY disagree with you. Habitat for Humanity seems to be doing quite well. If absolutely necessary the U.S. Corps of engineers could undertake the home building project. In any event, the goal would NOT be to make huge profits , but rather to build low cost homes.

I'd be willing to bet that there are literally thousands of capable, under employed, builders who would be happy to take on the projects. There are builders and there are builders. Not all of them all quite so greedy as the one you encountered in Dallas.

Moreover, I do not believe that ANYTHING is impossible.
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Many cities already have low income housing projects. They're generally crime ridden, filthy, and dilapidated.

And that's socialism! So it will never gain support at the federal level.
 
SeniorBen said:
Many cities already have low income housing projects. They're generally crime ridden, filthy, and dilapidated.

And that's socialism! So it will never gain support at the federal level.
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Yes, I'm familiar with some of them. They were designed by people who have no clue about how to create functional housing projects.
The type of housing projects I have in mind, are somewhat similar to Levitt Town in old New York. suburbs. Built after WW2.

Low income, high rise, housing is an absolute failure. People soon get used to hiding behind their steel doors and little, if any, knowledge of their nearest neighbor. THAT is a perfect setup for criminals because there are no private/semi/private ares.

As far as crime and filth is concerned, that is quite easy to avoid. The concept is called, "Defensible Housing". Each and every house has it's own PRIVATE front area. This encourages each tenant to take "ownership" of his/her front area. Such an area, has some form of small wall which proclaims, Private/keepout. Such areas encourage tenants to set up a small front patio where grandma can sit and knit and chat with her neighbor. In the old days, a white picket fence proclaimed "PRIVATE".

The next area is "semi-private" . This area is for the general use of tenants BUT NOT the public.











Last, but not least.is letting new home owners that they are expected to maintain their own property and a binding contact forces new home owners to keep a decent house. Failure results in eviction.

Well maintained housing naturally gives criminals pause. Finally, there could be, if necessary, very limited numbers of gated and manned security gates



The last area is public: such as streets and sidewalks.
 
Housing costs, in many metro areas, have risen substantially in the past couple of years. There are a number of reasons, but one of the primary issues is corporations and investors buying up properties and then inflating the prices when they resell. People have been out-bidding each other on these houses. However, the odds are pretty good that there will soon be a "housing bust", much like 2008, and those who have been looking upon housing as an "investment" may take a major financial hit.

California is experiencing a bit of a decline in population as companies and people are starting to move elsewhere to more affordable areas, and that trend will likely increase.
 
Don M. said:
Housing costs, in many metro areas, have risen substantially in the past couple of years. There are a number of reasons, but one of the primary issues is corporations and investors buying up properties and then inflating the prices when they resell. People have been out-bidding each other on these houses. However, the odds are pretty good that there will soon be a "housing bust", much like 2008, and those who have been looking upon housing as an "investment" may take a major financial hit.

California is experiencing a bit of a decline in population as companies and people are starting to move elsewhere to more affordable areas, and that trend will likely increase.
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Then, too, there is the rising costs of lumber, and building materials, over the past couple of years, and labor shortages due to Covid. For years, the price for an 8' 2x4 hovered around $1. Last year, that same piece of lumber rose to over $8, and even today the price is still around $4.
 
Housing prices started skyrocketing in the late '90s in some areas such as Colorado. Some of that was due to Californians seeking a cheaper cost of living.
 
Don M. said:
Housing costs, in many metro areas, have risen substantially in the past couple of years. There are a number of reasons, but one of the primary issues is corporations and investors buying up properties and then inflating the prices when they resell. People have been out-bidding each other on these houses. However, the odds are pretty good that there will soon be a "housing bust", much like 2008, and those who have been looking upon housing as an "investment" may take a major financial hit.

California is experiencing a bit of a decline in population as companies and people are starting to move elsewhere to more affordable areas, and that trend will likely increase.
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That's what happened to this rental property. Was resold for more than double the amount they paid for it.. and during the time they owned it it went from an average decent place to live to a crime-infested hell-pit.
 
I don't see anything changing. Something will have to be done by the government or it's never going to change. And I doubt that will ever happen.

I'm getting literally scared to live in this apartment, thinking I could just be thrown out so they can rent it for more.
 
Waste of space to have hills on small piece of land. Can't do anything with them.
 


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