[quote=Essbee]Sorry for replying to my own thread.
Tear-down type “remodeling” on a lot is also very expensive, and the people who can afford it are going to choose La Jolla (Mitt Romney!), Bird Rock, etc. and other coastal locations.
I guess my conclusion is that areas like Clairemont, Linda Vista, Allied Gardens, San Carlos, etc will slowly deteriorate with time. The next wave would be 70s/80s constructions like Tierrasanta, Mira Mesa, RPQ, etc.
New owners may do some remodeling (likely aesthetically unpleasing additions) and the adult children who inherit such properties from their parents will likely just keep letting their properties deteriorate. (There are houses in my old ‘hood which are 50-60 yrs old and are just crying for new roofs or paint, but it doesn’t look like there is any will or money to ever do it).
I guess the answer will come depending on whether potential new owners with a bit of money to remodel will be willing to move into such neighborhoods with these types of eyesores in their midst (not to mention the marginal schools). I imagine there is some sort of tipping point. Really interesting to think about it all.[/quote]
Yes, I haven’t seen it but Mitt no doubt is/did build ONE SFR on a lot with a teardown which he purchased in Birdrock (LJ). He doesn’t have as “high a hill” to climb as a prospective spec/infill builder. He just has to have ONE pleasing-enough house to appease his surrounding neighbors within 300 feet AND the Coastal Commission that does NOT interfere with anyone’s airspace or utility easements! In an area such as this, the high cost of teardown and rebuild (even if NOT saving a wall) make financial sense as there is only ONE Birdrock and ONE LJ in the world 🙂
I don’t see the city core deteriorating like you do. Right now the 92104 zip code (where most SFR’s are 80+ years old) is “gentrifying” very, very quickly. It is happening one by one and the new facades and additions are both permitted and tasteful. Up until about 1970, the City of SD (and surrounding cities) didn’t enforce their building codes very well. Thus you see a lot of “grandfathered” and unpermitted additions, screen porches and garages built too close to the property line in these areas. There is nothing a new owner can do now but either accept them as-is or tear them down and redo them (if the City will find out about it and enforce the current codes on the new owner). This will likely not happen, however.
Regarding the “lazy heirs” who won’t maintain the property that has been in their family for years, I believe this is just a function of being on a fixed income. When there are multiple heirs in an estate and the remaining parent dies and leaves a modest home, it is usually the heir with the lowest income that moves into the home (whether renting or buying from the other heir(s) (who typically carry the note). The other heirs already own and live in a superior location and/or house and do not want to move back into the old ‘hood. The “heirs” around me who do not maintain their properties are on SSI, SSD, VA Disability, etc and that is their sole income so that don’t have the money to fix the fence or get a new roof. Some have just never owned anything in their lives and don’t know how to take care of RE.
As time goes on and people get sick of paying MR into oblivion, running expensive A/C for half the year and driving 60-100 miles per day, I think most of the areas in SD’s urban core will go up in value due to workers moving in and spending money on rehab, lot by lot.
