Reply to MoCo Council Vote Today

Forum Index » Metropolitan DC Local Politics

Reply to "MoCo Council Vote Today"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I suppose our personal finance math may differ, but two married people making a combined 140 a yr or so, I wouldnt feel comfortable with a 700k house.    (thats on the low end by the way, the ones in Arlington ended up over 1M).   But lets assume 700k here.   You would need 140 for a down payment for an 80/20 mortgage.

Then you factor in property taxes, insurance, etc etc... no effing way two teachers or two nurses are swinging that.

Again-its a fairy tale story "we want affordable houses for teachers and nurses and cops!!"   (then they build 700-1M triplexes, that none of those people will actually buy or be able to afford).

Just admit that. [/quote]

New construction is always going to demand a premium. The issue isn't so much what the new units will cost, but what effect they will have on other units compared to maintaining the status quo.

Scarcity drives prices. More people competing for the same number of homes is going to keep driving prices up faster than incomes.[/quote]

I would be inclined to agree somewhat with this theory (full on admitting by the way that the new constuction isnt actually for the famed "teachers, firefighters, cops, nurses" trope mind you), but the wealthier will buy them and free up some of the older, cheaper, inventory... EXCEPT.... no one is leaving a 2.5-3.5% mortgage for a 6.5.   It's jsut not happening.

So the new builds will need to be price attainable for the actual middle class you are claiming to help. [/quote]

Change happens slowly. There's no quick fix here. Certainly this proposal isn't a big enough to do much on its own-- it only applies to about 2500 lots in the county. But we need to be making changes get us to a better place in 20 years.

To deal with the immediate problem, there isn't much we can do other than subsidize housing for low-income workers. And we're never going to be able to fund that sustainably at the necessary levels.[/quote]

Is the proportion of "naturally occuring affordable housing" in those 2500 lots greater than that elsewhere in the targeted neighborhoods?  Yes?  Oops...[/quote]

One of two things will happen in those areas.

1) We allow or perhaps even incentive moderate density redevelopment, likely resulting in the cheapest properties being redeveloped first. The redeveloped properties will almost certainly be more expensive than the homes they replace, but we know over time things like townhomes are cheaper than surrounding single family homes.

2) We maintain SFH-only zoning in those areas. Over time, those homes will be remodeled, expanded, or rebuilt, significantly increasing their values and costs.

Which one ultimately results in more affordable housing for more people?[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics