The Golden Gate City’s out-of-control Housing Market: San Francisco Shack Just Sold for $1.2 million

The listed property at 16 De Long Street in San Francisco that sold for $1.2 million. Courtesy of Vanguard Properties

Long Way from Home: The Housing Crisis Lingers On “Distinguished home in need of work” as  listed with Vanguard Properties “Housing Special.” However, is this property a rich man’s dream or worst nightmare?

With rotting wooden shingles, peeling paint and boarded-up windows, this 1906 single-story home need’s a lot of work. But the price is what had people talking. The asking price was  $350,000, for 2 bedrooms, one bath, and a mere 765 square feet, about the size of a hotel suite.

The Golden Gate City’s out-of-control Housing Market

Located at 16 De Long Street in the more affordable Outer Mission district, the house price reflects  the out-of-control  real estate market in San Francisco. Since 2012, the city has seen a 103% increase in housing prices.  The average apartment in the city rents for $3,500 a month, and the median housing price reached an all-time high of $1.2 million and it’s expected to climb another 5.2% in the year ahead, according to Zillow. Manhattan rents in August, by comparison, topped $3,460, according to StreetEasy, a New York real-estate research firm that’s part of the Zillow Group Z, -2.95% .

The San Francisco Real-estate Market Is Probably the Hottest Market in the U.S Right Now

Not surprisingly, given the state of the actual building, the home’s value isn’t in the structure but in the land that it sits on.

Thinking of Moving to San Francisco to Make It Big in the Tech Industry

With the influx of tech workers driving up the housing market, along with a strain on the supply of houses to meet demand, it is understandable to brokers in San Francisco  why prices seem so unrealistic.

$1.2 Million Is What It Costs to Buy a Shack in San Francisco, Literally

The home is an earthquake shack. These tiny homes were built after the 1906 earthquake to house people who lost their residences. Many still remain around the city and have been restored, updated and refurbished.

According to a report from  Curbed San Francisco, the house had rats, black widows, mold, and hundreds of bottles of urine  inside it when it went up for sale and was subsequently  sold for $1.52  million.

The tiny home backs on to the eight-lane 280 freeway and a Bay Area Rapid Transit, or rail line that begins running at 5 a.m. and doesn’t stop until nearly 2.a.m.

On the flip side biking it to the local  station only takes eight minutes and getting on to the freeway isn’t difficult either, if you want to get out of town or into the city by car. Three golf clubs are also nearby.  And, for those late-night snacks, a convenience store stands just a few steps away at the corner of De Long and San Jose Avenue.

So maybe it wasn’t  such a bad deal, after all? or is it a sign  of how crazy the San Francisco real estate market has become?

Michael Lewis, writing for The New Republic, describes the negative effect of wealth on the moral behavior of wealthy people. He cites studies in which wealthy people, again and again, demonstrate a sense of entitlement and disregard for justice.

“As the recession lifted, poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less. At the same time, according to a newChronicle analysis of tax data, wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of the income they gave to charity declined.”

So rich people, statistically speaking, demonstrate disregard for their fellow citizens and the laws of the land. None of this should come as a surprise for Christians. Jesus warned of the dangers of wealth (Matthew 13:22) and of course Paul warns in 1Timothy, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” And yet solving the problem of extreme wealth in America is not so easy as spouting Bible verses. And for wealthy Christians, the solution to the problems of extreme wealth comes from entrusting that wealth to the Lord to the benefit of all.

Prefab Comeback

Prefab  housing suffers from bad stigma due to the fact that some people saw the prefabs as ugly and characterless, and were afraid they would become slums – hardly the promised housing fit for heroes  following the second World War. However, building homes from pre-made parts can save time and money.  The term prefab or prefabrication often evokes thoughts of poor construction, substandard living conditions and a long-standing “temporary” solution.

Prefab dwellings are making a comeback driven by a lack of affordable housing, a rapidly growing economy and changing demographic trends.  

Methods Methods of Construction (Mmc) Offer Significant Potential to Minimise Construction Costs

The term ‘Modern Methods of Construction‘ refers to a collection of relatively new building construction techniques that aim to offer more advantages over traditional construction methods. Off-site construction (OSC) is a modern method of construction, based on off-site manufacturing of building elements.

With exponentially lower construction costs, quicker construction, reduced  labor costs and having the ability to achieve zero defects, MMC is gaining a lot of attention as the  potential answer to the UK’s housing crisis.

In a valiant attempt to strip away prefabricated housings’ bad rep are MMC with contemporary sleek designs, and constructed to withstand the test of time. MMC housing has the capability to deliver both quality and quantity housing to the tune of ‘ £50,000 per unit.

MMC units hold the promise of being extremely  energy efficient and environmentally sustainable. Many versions of MMC take into account how to utilise natural resources and reduce each unit’s carbon footprint. In addition, MMC also addresses environmental concerns by creating much less waste than a standard brick-and-mortar project. While it is plausible that a traditional build could hire a waste removal company who would have the ability to recycle up to 90 percent of the construction waste; with MMC projects, this will automatically happen.

M-house (pronounced “mouse
M-house (pronounced “mouse”)

There have already been a number of successful examples of MMC housing constructed in various parts of the United Kingdom. The M-house (pronounced “mouse”) is designed and constructed to last an upwards of 100 years. While Architect Alford Hall have created quality MMC apartment buildings proudly showcasing a patio and private entrance for each flat.

Architect Alford Hall
Architect Alford Hall
Compass House by AHMM
Compass House by AHMM

While many of the MMC homes  are still in their early years the upkeep and maintenance will be reduced by 50%  since the OSC  process lowers the risk of non-conformities.

MMC homes are being fabricated and designed to accommodate many different lifestyles, such as, two-story homes, tall six-story apartment buildings, single-family homes and log cabins are all available options for families looking at MMC.

While there is a plethora of design options available all MMC  OSC  projects have a common theme. The internal workings of the homes are fabricated off-site, while only the “outer skin” comes to fruition on-site. To even further streamline the process, it has been suggested that having a “catalog of pre-selected materials increases supplier relationships and makes the design process more streamlined.”

With the small sample available with progressive MMC systems, it is currently reasonable to conclude that using modern methods of construction to build homes can cost more than traditional home building procedures; due to the need for specialised MMC design consultants. However, outside of costs, MMC remains a faster home building method than traditional brick and block house building and is slowly  becoming a relevant front-runner to answer the  UK’s housing shortage.

 

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