[quote=Ren]…I think it’s irrational to buy a functionally obsolete house just because the lot is 2ksf bigger and I can paint the exterior purple. I’d rather have a walk-in closet and not have to look at my neighbor’s purple house…[/quote]
Ren . . . so many misconceptions here.
Yes, I DO believe that the majority of younger homebuyers gravitate to new construction after viewing just 0-3 resales. They view the “functionally obsolete” resales which may have been longtime rentals or owned by an octogenarian or someone’s estate where the homeowner lived there for 40-60 yrs, don’t like what they see and then make a beeline out to a new construction site! They typically don’t want to wait for a suitable resale property to come on the market and/or lose interest quickly in the current resale listings because they can’t see past the avocado green carpeting and linoleum. The vast majority of RE listings today in SD County’s most sought-after areas are NOT “functionally obsolete.” Most have had new HVAC, repaired plumbing, updated electrical, new windows, new roof, new stucco, etc, etc.
In the SD suburbs (i.e. Chula, EC, LM, etc), the lots aren’t just 2K bigger in the older homes, Ren. They avg 3-4K bigger (nearly twice as big)! The size of the new construction lots in the same price range of a nearby older home (using $350-$450K here) typically have 3500-4500 sf (substandard) lots.
I can tell you that in my immediate area of about 100+ 60-65 yr old homes, there are at least 20-25 walk-in closets (some were added by an owner). Have you ever been to Coronado, Ren? MOST of the homes there (which were NOT gut/rebuilds) have walk-in closets. In two neighborhoods there, the closets are bigger than a bedroom and have an 8×8 ft built in chest of drawers in the middle of the closet (w/drawers on 2-3 sides, incl jewelry/sock drawers)! These closets have racks on all four sides! These houses are ALL more than 75 yrs old! On a smaller scale, some houses in North Park and South Park (SD) have walk-in closets. Many, many tract homes in Pt Loma which are 55+ yrs old have walls and walls of cabinets throughout the homes including in the dining room, family room, hallway and bedrooms and also built-in dressers and china cabinets. Yes, they were originally built this way! Older tracts like this can also be found in College Area and Del Cerro.
You won’t be able see any of this if your first house-shopping stop is out in lizardland at the new construction site.
And I’ve never seen a purple house in SD. Out of the 250 60+ yo homes around me (no HOAs), I know of ONE bright green one! The rest are light, muted colors and earth tones. And HOAs DO exist in older neighborhoods as well.
Perhaps the REAL reason for the knee-jerk preference for new construction in this demographic is builder-assisted financing. I can’t imagine that it is completely about schools, since there are many GREAT schools in non-MR attendance areas. The “builder-assist” may very well eliminate the need for a percentage of the downpayment wherein the buyer won’t be subject to PMI underwriting or PMI. But the costly (often VERY costly) MR encumbrance is NOT a fair tradeoff for this buyer assistance, IMHO.
