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Wanting to eventually go back and retire in Lovington, I have watched this town, gone to several meetings, and subscribed to their paper for almost 35 years. The big news, yet again, is the lack of affordable housing. The town has expressed problems with hiring teachers and police staff due to this fact. But, yet again, the city seems to think that "developing new subdivisions" is going to be the solution. Doesn't anyone realize that people need AFFORDABLE housing, not, yet again, more homes in the 125-175K range?? What is wrong with the lower cost homes?? I have built several homes and have contractor experience, so I know this can be done: a developer who plans for a basic home subdivision with small entry level 2 bedroom homes that have a little room for future expansion if wanted, in the 40-50k range (check it out, take greed out of the equation and this can be done!) will sell out as many as they can build and still make a profit. People are looking for entry level homes that are not trailers, which the town is also trying to regulate out of town. I have recently done the math, and researched land availability, materials, utilities, etc. as an exercise to see if this would be practical there and I know for a fact there is hope for this type of thinking to sollve the problems in Lovington. The town does NOT need more expensive homes, but a new look at what will make for young families and couples want to give Lovington a chance and in turn help the town, schools, and businesses grow..
In most of the country 125k is below considered affordable. That would either be a rotted disaster or a super bargain here in the northeast.
If you can build houses for 50k below that I see an awesome business opportunity. You don't need to do the actual building but just manage and QC the operation. Look for opposition from the guys with the 125 k houses for sale.
My understanding of Lovington is that would-be homeowners are clamoring to have _any_ new housing, and those price points are still priced low enough to ensure that the subdivision gets fully built out and occupied.
Long-time residents can move out of their 1950-era 3/2's and 2/1's into the new housing, and people who need affordable housing can move into their old houses for $50k.
Now if there were already a dozen unsold houses at 2000+ sf for $150k, I might agree with the need for affordable housing.
I have tried to get the city to allow homes placed on a subdivision in Lovington for the last 5 years and have always been denied because there is no street. An entire subdivision is empty because the city will not build a 632 foot street. The city want the land owners to build a street before they will allow homes to be placed. The city encourages and assist developers to build streets but only for 250K+ homes, Nothing is done to allow low middle income folks who can only afford -100K homes. Yes, the city shows growth, but only for folks with deep pockets, the little guy is ignored and remains homeless. The city is supposed to help develop housing divisions in all income ranges. Lovington has taken the stand that if you cannot afford what is available to leave town.
Assuming $100 per foot including water & sewer, a 632 foot street would cost $63k to build.
That should add less than $10k per house.
It may be more profitable for you the developer to put up instant slums if the city gives you the street, but the fact they don't gift you something you should be able to afford yourself is not a strike against people looking for affordable housing.
Why assume a development of 60 to 70 k homes is an "instant slum". The prospective owners would still have to qualify for a mortgage unless they were rich speculators counting on raising prices. I believe one of the unspoken rules of all planning boards is to create zoning to prevent less than affluent people from moving into town. This is with keeping the low pay labor supply maxed out. Too bad the West has become infected with this Eastern disease.
Been down to Lovington two weeks ago and again 4 weeks ago, more of the same. There is a realtor who buys vacant tracts in town, divides them, and sells them by the lot, for mobile homes. These are not cheap ways to live: $14k for a small lot (with no curb cutout for a driveway, so you have to enter your property from the muddy unimproved partial alley or petition and pay the City for a curb cut). Get a single wide mobile for $35k, pay a plumber to bring in/hook up water and sewer (and pay the city for a water connection fee and the water meter itself), pay more to try to have some rock or dirt driveway defined, pay for an electric pole and an electrician to bring the power in, , maybe pay for some sort of fence to keep the wild ones away, pay for skirting, and you have what passes as cheap housing in Lovington these days.
Land, land, land... the cost of land has gone up, and thus, the cost of housing. Plus there's all kinds of tap fees and taxes you have to pay before you even start building. It's not as simple (or as cheap) as everyone seems to think it is.
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