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I think it can be done with more bedrooms, since the marginal cost of bedrooms beyond three is relatively low.
Fixed costs spread across 6 or 8 bedrooms are more palatable than the same fixed costs across three bedrooms.
The cheapest I can do a 4 bedroom costs $71,000 more than the 2 bed 1 bath house. $62.50 a square foot. The rest of the costs are very close to being fixed.
So, total cost $285,000. Mortgage payment would be $1856 a month, plus about $300 for taxes and insurance. Divide by 4 bedrooms and cost per bedroom. $539 a month, plus another 150 for utilities. So, I could build a basic 4 bedroom, 2 bath house, and my break even point would be $689 a month per room. I think that some of the low income people could come up with that. But that is only breaking even if all rooms are rented all the time and if there are absolutely no repairs or maintenance. At that rate, all of my time is donated for free. But someone could do it.
I don't want to deal with all the roommate politics. The most likely people to afford a $689 room are married couples with 2 incomes. So 8 people in the house. Not my idea of fun to try to herd them around and make them behave. There would be endless complaints about not enough hot water for everyone to take a shower and endless complaints about people not keeping the kitchen clean. I don't want to do it.
You might be able to put something together, freemrkt. That house has a 2 car garage and you could live in the garage for free in exchange for doing the referee work and maintenance. All you need to do is to find someone who will finance it. Also, find a lot that is big enough for no more that $100,000-- which you might not be able to do in Portland.
(Sorry freemrkt, I don't have figures for a bigger house. My family will be building 4 houses this spring so I have the real figures right here on my desk, right at my fingertips. But I am not interested in more than 4 bedrooms, so don't have any figures for larger, other than to fit 2 of the 4 bedroom houses together. I think the cost per square foot might go down very slightly, but not much, because if you doubled the bedrooms, you'd need to double the bathrooms and you'd still need a kitchen, but the kitchen should be bigger. The 4 bedroom houses I have figures for, those are 3 very small bedrooms and the master bedroom isn't huge. I can make bedrooms bigger for not a huge increase in cost, but I can not add bathrooms, kitchens, or enlarge kitchens for lower cost.)
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 02-21-2016 at 11:30 AM..
... and remember contrary to what most are saying about affordable housing is not only does it have to be affordable... it has to be where they want to live... not where they can "Afford" to live.
Rather than using the power of government to force developers and municipalities to include "affordable" housing in their developments, why aren't we talking about the stagnant recovery, the loss of our manufacturing base, and the decline of good middle class jobs?
If the post-2008 recovery had been in line with previous recoveries, our economy would be $1.3 trillion larger than it is now. Our national deficit, currently at $550 billion, would be a fraction of that. And the middle class would have that much more to spend on housing, among other things, such that housing affordability would be a nonissue.
Notice I said "decent" housing. Even if you can't afford to live in some areas in your city, I expect you can still find decent housing (what we all call decent: somewhat safe, clean, not full of drugs, houses not falling down, etc.).
There's a difference between wanting to live in a rich part of town that you can't afford, and not being able to find decent housing. The article is not talking about whining because they can't afford to live in a wealthy neighborhood, and not whining about not being given free housing.
There is a gradual shutting out of many places in certain cities so that lower middle class people can't find decent housing in the city. I'm not talking about large or fancy. Decent.
That's a valid complaint.
(There is always some place that a wealthy person can't afford, unless he's Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise.)
Even if some can't afford to live in some cities, I expect they can find decent housing in a lower COL area. They are no more entitled to live where they want than I am. We are both are entitled to live where we can afford.
Notice I said "decent" housing. Even if you can't afford to live in some areas in your city, I expect you can still find decent housing (what we all call decent: somewhat safe, clean, not full of drugs, houses not falling down, etc.).
There's a difference between wanting to live in a rich part of town that you can't afford, and not being able to find decent housing. The article is not talking about whining because they can't afford to live in a wealthy neighborhood, and not whining about not being given free housing.
There is a gradual shutting out of many places in certain cities so that lower middle class people can't find decent housing in the city. I'm not talking about large or fancy. Decent.
That's a valid complaint.
(There is always some place that a wealthy person can't afford, unless he's Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise.)
This depends on household size. I think for singles with no pets or kids even a $35k income can get by almost anywhere except maybe the Bay Area. Even in NYC you can go to a cheaper borough and commute by train.
There are already plenty of cheap houses for sale. Detroit is now paying people to take ownership in houses.
But people don't want just any cheap house, only one in a desirable location.
It is impossible to build cheap in desirable locations and still turn a profit in order for the builder to stay in business.
Many of these properties have property taxes years in arrears which must then be paid by the new owner, or are so unsafe no reasonable person would want to live there. There are plenty of cheap areas in the Midwest with low cost housing and that are also reasonably safe - those $1 properties in Detroit aren't it.
Many of these properties have property taxes years in arrears which must then be paid by the new owner, or are so unsafe no reasonable person would want to live there. There are plenty of cheap areas in the Midwest with low cost housing and that are also reasonably safe - those $1 properties in Detroit aren't it.
You're saying that the city sells a property without the lien being wiped out?
Many of these properties have property taxes years in arrears which must then be paid by the new owner, or are so unsafe no reasonable person would want to live there. There are plenty of cheap areas in the Midwest with low cost housing and that are also reasonably safe - those $1 properties in Detroit aren't it.
Usually all liens must be paid at closing so the buyer gets a clean title.
It's been a couple years since I've seen these articles, but my impression is that the house sells for X, then the property taxes in arrears get paid to the city (not sure if this must happen before closing, can be negotiated down, payment plans arranged, etc.). I've not seen any cases where the city actually forgave any taxes owed, and paid the owner to take possession of the property. I'm far from an expert in this.
In order to make it livable, most of these places are basically a complete rebuild. You'd probably be better off to just tear the junk house down and build from scratch. Once you either fix it or build a new property, your property value is still brought down by the other blighted properties in the neighborhood.
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