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We're in Los Angeles County, CA, and are (hopefully) going to be listing our home for sale in the next few months.
There is a "small family daycare" (maximum of 8 children) operating out of our next door neighbor's house. So far, it hasn't been a big problem, but we do notice the cars dropping off and picking up as well as the noise of the children playing in the back yard.
We just received a notice from our City that the daycare operator (who is not the homeowner, but rather a renter) has applied to convert the daycare to a "large family daycare" (maximum of 14 children). The landlord/owners of the property are also listed on the application (so they must approve); they live in the next County over.
Even if we weren't planning to list our home for sale, we object to this increase and are working on our response to our City Planning Commission's request for comments on the application.
Here is my question for all of you Real Estate Professionals: Does the presence of a family daycare (particularly a "large" one) negatively impact the value of the adjacent properties? And can you provide any evidence of that? We want to take that information to our City as one of our arguments against allowing this person's business to expand.
BTW, the daycare is run out of a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom, 992 square foot SFR, Zoned R-1, on a 6400 square foot lot. They operate M-F from 7am to 6pm. After hours, the tenants (2-3 people, I think) do live there. I can't imagine caring for even 8 babies/toddlers/preschoolers under that size roof, much less 14!
As a practical matter for you living there, I'm not sure there will be a lot of difference between 8 and 14 children. There's already noise and traffic and kid sounds next door... there will just be a little more of it.
But wow... that seems like a small place for even a small day care. Is it on sewer or septic?
Yes, as a buyer it would be a huge negative for me.
It's a commercial business. And besides that, the difference between 8 and 14 children is around 4-5 more cars, assuming at least one kid has a sibling going there too.
Those people often will park in front of YOUR house to do drop off and pick up. They may walk across your yard. They may drop litter there. After reading posts here for the past ten years, I know that it doesn't take much to annoy homeowners these days!
That's all besides the idea that there could be 10 kids playing in the back yard next door.
And yes, that house seems quite small for a daycare of that size.
I would have a issue especially if houses are close together. If there was plenty of room, homes on 2 acres or something like that it maybe ok. But I suspect homes are very close together. I would think that the state licensing for home daycares would require a larger home for that many kids. Just how would they take nap, where? It doesn't sound feasible. That sounds more a commercial enterprise rather than a home daycare. Will anyone still be living in the house? What is the zoning for your neighborhood? The traffic for that many kids would be too much. I would be down at city hall objecting to that, in writing.
My husband and I are working on our letters of objection to our City Planning Division. We have another couple days before they must be submitted.
We have contacted our realtor, the same agent who helped my husband buy our house long before we were married...and whom we will hire to help us sell when the time comes (hopefully sooner than later). Her opinion, like most all above, is that yes, this is detriment to our homes' market value.
To answer some questions & reply to some of your comments:
Yes, the home is small. Ours is small for a family of 4, and it's 158 square feet bigger on a slightly larger lot!
The home is on sewer. An increase from 8 to 14 kids is 75%! I don't think, by anyone's standards, that would be considered just "a little more".
As far as the State of California goes, it's not considered a commercial enterprise, rather a "home daycare", although I agree with you. There's a big difference between someone telecommuting for work (as my husband can/does do as often as feasible) and operating a business where people & cars come and go. This State is out of control as to what it allows and even encourages (but that's the topic for another post).
So far, none of the drop-offs/pick-ups have resulted in anyone walking across our yard or dropping litter, but they do sometimes park in front of our house and sometimes in such a manner that makes it difficult to back out of our driveway.
Yes, the houses are close together. (Two acres would be a dream come true!) One would think the State would have more requirements, but they don't. I guess just about anything goes in the spirit of addressing the so-called "child care shortage" in California.
From the daycare's current Facebook page, you can see that she has all 8 kids sitting around what would normally be a dining room table doing crafts and such, and there are two cribs set up off to the side; it's tight.
Yes, the woman who runs the daycare lives there, as well as another young woman who I believe is her daughter. I think the two of them run the daycare together, but only the older of the two women is named on the application to City Planning.
Heh... I suppose you're right... I was just trying to be an optimist because you seemed pretty tolerant of the 8. 8 would be a lot for me.
I appreciate your optimism...ordinarily, I try to look on the bright side of things, myself.
I am "tolerant" of the existing 8 mainly because I have no choice. Any increase to what's already going on is objectionable, though. It's a slippery slope.
And, like most long-term homeowners (especially in our market), our home is our largest/most valuable single asset, so we are rightfully sensitive to anything some random tenant next door does that can devalue our property.
Yes, it's a negative. People see it the same as living across the street from a school. People want to be close to a school but not right next to it because of traffic, noise, etc.
You are going to have to get all of your neighbors to object. Just one of you isn't likely to work.
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