Reply to How do teardowns work, and do they really 'work'?

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[quote=Anonymous]We live in a teardown in Bethesda. I'd say about 50% of the houses on our street are teardowns, and the number goes up yearly. Just in the adjacent few blocks are 2-3 teardowns in progress.

I think what will happen if you choose a close-in neighborhood is that over time, the whole place will be teardowns. It basically happens when the land value soars above the structure value. For example, we bought the house behind us (a 50's style house) and we'll tear it down to make a backyard eventually. The land price is 3x the value of the structure on it.

I've talked with some builders. They have their numbers down pat, so they know exactly how much the property is worth to them in order to make money. They know the numbers well, so even a $50k difference and they'll walk away.

One thing to watch for is lot size and zoning/setbacks. If it's a narrow lot (even if it's deep), that's tough to do a teardown if you also want a 2-car garage. Also realize that often you can only build in the front starting from where the existing house began, so that can be limiting. An experienced builder will know about all this.

My friend who lives in Bethesda in a teardown-worthy house plans to buy a manufactured home in a few years. I think the whole process will take less than a month from tearing down the old house to trucking in the new one. I have another friend who did this in Fairfax. The entire home came in on 4 flatbed trucks and was "assembled" in a matter of hours. The quality is very high since the houses are built in factories with very strict manufacturing standards.
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