Support Adult Children: Money Should Ease Life Choices
This is similar to how my wife and I have come to feel … except that for each of their careers it may/not make sense for them to live with us But regardless, we are going to try and knock down any “stigma” in them living with us. There’s no reason for them to spend money just to be on their own. And we will give them whatever we can to make life choices easier when they are younger What other purpose is there to make money than to ease your kids decisions on making major life chores, like having kids?
Affordability, Not Aesthetics, Drives Housing Crisis: Build Smaller
I agree ... but the housing crisis is not "Oh I wish homes were more beautiful. I'd gladly pay 5% more" ... it's "If I scrape together every penny I have and commit the most I can to my monthly...
Repeal Residential Prop 13, Benefit Society More Than Commercial
That’s why although it’s a lot less popular, it would be a lot more beneficial to society to repeal prop 13 for residential property rather than commercial
More Studios Drive Down Metro Prices, Boost 3BR Affordability
This is also why unit typology in new construction matters If we build lots of Studio units in Neighborhood A does that “free up” larger units for families in THAT neighborhood? Maybe More likely, it lowers prices in the Metro and ...
Defining ‘Encourage’ Builders: Details Matter for Preservationists
The devil is in the details. What does “encourage” builders actually mean? Because I think many historic neighborhood preservationists would agree … depending on what the actual mechanism was.
Industrial Manufacturing Delivers Beautiful, High‑Quality Family Homes
We @americanhousing are incredibly proud to be using industrial manufacturing to build beautiful high quality housing ... designed for families. https://t.co/otvdXNXQbN
Huge Demand for Edgartown Rowhomes; Builder Ready to Scale
There would be plenty of demand to buy Rowhomes in Edgartown If they let me, I’d personally build hundreds.
Bellevue New Apartments Skew Toward Studios, Not Families
Look at the distribution of units built in Bellevue, Washington. In buildings since 2010 with more than 20 units ... over 70% of new units are Studio or 1BRs, and less than 2% have 3+ bedrooms We don’t build apartments for...
Choosing Infill and Mountain Sites to Cut Construction Costs
This undershoots the mark. At @americanhousing we're already under these (in some places) Because conventional methods are labor intensive, construction is higher in places with: 1) High rents 2) Scarce labor That's why we're building in: 1) Infill Cities 2) Mountain towns
We Build, Own, and Sell Homes—No Customization
We don’t do customization and we don’t build homes on other people’s land. We buy land. we build homes on that land. and then we sell those homes to American families
Manufacture Quality Homes Directly in Desired Neighborhoods
Even more novel idea: Use manufacturing to build NICE housing in the places people want to live https://t.co/gmQAr9C8Ap
Restricting Bank Foreclosure Threatens New‑Build Lending
I understand the principle of precluding large firms from buying existing homes. They do “compete” with young families and raise prices. But the ROAD to Housing needs to be **clearly** re-written. Preventing "investors" from owning homes they built not only affects...
Upzoning Alone Won’t Spark Building without Lower Costs
“Nobody is starting construction until the costs come down.” Exactly Upzoning is **necessary** but not **sufficient** to solve the housing crisis
Affordable Housing Requires Suburban and Greenfield Development
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS **METRO** There is NO example of any City keeping housing costs low without building in the suburbs and greenfield as well.
Stable City Prices only Where Greenfield Development Thrives
This can be laid at the feet of the suburbs not building: Long Island, West Chester, Connecticut, and North Jersey There is no market with stable CITY prices which has not see a TON of greenfield development.
DC Height Act Forces Windowless Bedrooms in Apartments
If you ever wondered why DC has so many apartments with windowless bedrooms … it’s the Height Act https://t.co/Axl6cvRgrf
Smaller Starter Homes Make Housing Affordable for Young Families
We need to build *smaller* housing Smaller is the primary attribute of "Starter Homes." It's smaller SO THAT that a younger family can afford it, earlier It's why @americanhousing is building rowhomes. They're the perfect prototype. And have been for centuries. In...
Study’s Condo Price Metric Ignores Fees, Misleads
The perfect r example of why not accounting for HOA/Fees + Insurance is an incomplete indicator of “prices” … Which is the methodological error at the core of the paper cited in the viral Atlantic article on housing The study follows...
Home Builders Use Options, Paying 2‑3× Premium
The premium is a lot more than this The large home builders structure their contracts as options rather than outright purchase. 2-3X is not uncommon
McLean, VA Holds DC Metro’s Highest Apartment Rents
The apartment building with the highest rents in the entire DC metro ... is in McLean, VA https://t.co/UfLko09g2S
Industrial Housing Cuts Labor Costs in Pricey Cities
It's also bc site-built home construction is so labor intensive ... which means cities with high housing costs have high CONSTRUCTION costs That's exactly why @americanhousing is doing industrial manufacturing of high quality, non-combustible, beautiful, dense, attached housing We are bringing down...
Condo Price Study Ignores HOA Fees, Misleads Results
The working paper cited as the core thesis in this essay has a pretty serious data issue ... it follows a 40-story CONDO building and how the pricing effects filter down to the buildings that the new owners leave to...