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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: deeno who wrote (26073)	12/16/2004 8:03:44 PM
From: David Jones	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

>>>>Im only using these as an example to ask the question do you feel that current buyers are more interested in the house then the dirt?<<<< The house. I put a three unit sub division together in Pleasanton California back in 1986-88, 3700 ft homes on 11000 ft lots. I got to be know one of the buyers pretty good, were still friends today. His comments about why he and his wife had purchased were that they'd been looking for that sized home on a good sized lot and found few. Others of the same size and caliber were placed on postage stamp sized lots or were inferior in design or location. He felt that most buyers were not interested in large yards. Most were two income households with little interest in yard work. I feel the same, it's mostly about the house when speaking of track homes. In 96 a developer came to me to purchase ten feet off a parcel I held to accommodate his designs for his project next door. He needed around 3k ft and offered me 10 grand, the dork. He quoted me that added sq footage to already approved lots only returned a $1.76 to the builder so ten grand was generous. "Really some of these guys cant develop a cold." His numbers may ring true under different circumstances and it gives one an idea of what the yard size means to builders.

To: deeno who wrote (26073)	12/18/2004 12:14:53 PM
From: flint	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

I've been involved with some site developments. There is one reason and one reason only why the developers in Maryland even put a single family home on a quarter acre lot - ZONING and city regulation. Every time I first bid a job the bid starts out with about 70% townhouse and 30% single family homes. The intial budget plan always gets scrap after negotiating the permits with the city for about 60% townhouse and 40% single family homes. You can put 4 townhouse on the same size plot of land as the single family home. The townhouses sell for about $180,000.00 and the single family homes sell for about $600,00.00, the slight price difference is not the only reason for having the highest percent possible of cram in space. The lower price units sell the fastest. Those will be 100% occupied while the builder is still closing on the houses. There is a world of secrataries, divorce/single people, truck drivers, ect and ect that can afford a $180,000 home with no money down at 5 to 6%. If rates do go up and the buyers become the professionals, married couples, and savers. I suppose it will be the homes for the bottom rung people that start to give way to the single family homes. Flint