Who's responsible for affordable housing?

[Bill Miles]

Yes you're right. I was trying poorly to say that is a right people will argue for. The idea that the government is over stepping its authority and I can do what I want on my property. Cities have powers to impose zoning but I suspect there are also appeal mechanisms to modify as well. And of course there's the back room dealing...

This was quoted when the owners of the cow pasture across the road from us applied for anexxation from Blaine County into the City of Hailey in order to put in a development (no affordable housing requirement). We fought it as hard as we could and ended up losing and being forced annexed. There is some truth that they had the right to do with their land as they saw fit, but in the county, where it was when they bought it. Basically the fix was in, the city barely gave lip service to their own Comprehensive Plan goals.

 

[scott43]

This was quoted when the owners of the cow pasture across the road from us applied for anexxation from Blaine County into the City of Hailey in order to put in a development (no affordable housing requirement). We fought it as hard as we could and ended up losing and being forced annexed. There is some truth that they had the right to do with their land as they saw fit, but in the county, where it was when they bought it. Basically the fix was in, the city barely gave lip service to their own Comprehensive Plan goals.

I'm not surprised at all. I'm in this business up here..and I know how it works. I don't know what exactly goes on down there..but I suspect it's even more developer-friendly than here.

 

[pchewn]

Who's responsible for affordable housing? Adam Smith

The developers/owners control the supply, the renters control the demand. The consequence is the price.

All housing is affordable. To someone. At some price.

 

[Eleeski]

They just burned down my "affordable" house by the waterski lake. OK, they stole the doors, windows and copper out of it a while ago so it wasn't habitable. Shelter enough to be a good place to burn the plastic off the stolen copper wire. Oops.

Hearing the blame leveled at property owners for being greedy or heartless just doesn't sit right tonight.

This thread is inherently political and certainly not a discussion of "general skiing".

Eric

 

[Ken_R]

https://thehustle.co/british-colombia-money-laundering-real-estate/

 

[Ken_R]

https://thehustle.co/british-colombia-money-laundering-real-estate/

https://thehustle.co/british-colombia-money-laundering-real-estate/

When things become mostly a financial instrument rather than what they really are made for then price goes up... a lot.

 

[Mike King]

The cost of housing is a big issue all across Colorado:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/29/colorado-affordable-housing-spending/

Even in rural areas:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/05/02/housing-costs-rural-colorado/

Telluride is trying a bit of everything:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/18/telluride-housing-crisis-colorado-solutions/

While Aspen's program has a looming problem -- retirement of folk in their deed restricted houses:

https://coloradosun.com/2018/10/23/aspen-housing-shortage-affordable-problem/

Lots more stories on the Sun.

It is a real problem and there's no easy solution.

 

[scott43]

It is a real problem and there's no easy solution.

Amen

 

[Sibhusky]

While Aspen's program has a looming problem -- retirement of folk in their deed restricted houses:

https://coloradosun.com/2018/10/23/aspen-housing-shortage-affordable-problem/

That's a fascinating article. We're confronting the affordable housing issue here, but I don't think I've seen a discussion of what various policies will mean forty years down the road. There's so much push back already from the neighbors of proposed projects they are having a hard time getting anything in place. They are so worried about now they're not looking at forty years from now.

 

[Tricia]

The cost of housing is a big issue all across Colorado:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/04/29/colorado-affordable-housing-spending/

Even in rural areas:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/05/02/housing-costs-rural-colorado/

Telluride is trying a bit of everything:

https://coloradosun.com/2019/03/18/telluride-housing-crisis-colorado-solutions/

While Aspen's program has a looming problem -- retirement of folk in their deed restricted houses:

https://coloradosun.com/2018/10/23/aspen-housing-shortage-affordable-problem/

Lots more stories on the Sun.

It is a real problem and there's no easy solution.

Good reading.

 

[crgildart]

Who's responsible for affordable housing? Adam Smith

The developers/owners control the supply, the renters control the demand. The consequence is the price.

All housing is affordable. To someone. At some price.

And what happens to people who can't afford anything available anywhere?

 

[Mike King]

And what happens to people who can't afford anything available anywhere?

They become homeless.

https://coloradosun.com/2018/09/10/...-wrangle-big-city-problems-with-homelessness/

 

[scott43]

And what happens to people who can't afford anything available anywhere?

They just need to work harder...

 

[slowrider]

They just need to work harder...

And smarter.

 

[Goran M.]

I mistakenly posted in a thread that discusses the "Aspen whatever club" bankruptcy ...

Anyway,

why starting this thread - we all know it is highly political and ethical topic ...

 

[SSSdave]

Banks and financial loan corps, real estate corps, and their funded politicians in the spirit of unchecked capitalism are most responsible for unaffordable housings. Their politicians in backdoor legal changes have made it easy for foreigners to invest in US real estate and that includes expensive resort real estate. Some of changes were made after the 2008 economic meltdown in order to help keep supply and demand pressure high given reduced domestic pressures. They and their media friends don't want people talking about all this and rather just publicly blabber about simplistic "supply and demand". Check out the following link and map showing what is happening.

https://calmatters.org/articles/dat...-real-estate-in-your-california-neighborhood/

Back in 2006, about 10 percent of California single-family homes were purchased in all-cash transactions, according to the real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. A decade later, it’s nearly 25 percent...

Many of the recently arrived Chinese snapping up California properties are holders of EB-5 visas—a U.S. program granting green cards to foreigners who invest $500,000 in U.S. business...

So the provincial government (BC) slapped a 15 percent tax on all sales to foreign home buyers. The immediate response was stunning: Within a few months, the price of a single-family property in the greater Vancouver area dropped 20 percent. In contrast, prices in Toronto and other major Canadian cities kept rising—buoyed in part by foreign capital searching for a new market outside Vancouver.

Here is a broader US article and a key reason they want to make it easy for rich to immigrate here no questions asked as now exists here in California:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrap...reigners-to-buy-u-s-real-estate/#62b4446f1392

But the real motivation behind the change in the Act back in December is a tax exemption that makes it easier (and cheaper) for foreign stock funds and REITs to buy American real estate. This also opens the door for institutional investors, particularly those in Europe, who are dealing with zero yield and negative interest rates and don't have attractive options for capital preservation long term. Now they have a tax-friendly haven

 

[Mike King]

Banks and financial loan corps, real estate corps, and their funded politicians in the spirit of unchecked capitalism are most responsible for unaffordable housings. Their politicians in backdoor legal changes have made it easy for foreigners to invest in US real estate and that includes expensive resort real estate. Some of changes were made after the 2008 economic meltdown in order to help keep supply and demand pressure high given reduced domestic pressures. They and their media friends don't want people talking about all this and rather just publicly blabber about simplistic "supply and demand". Check out the following link and map showing what is happening.

https://calmatters.org/articles/dat...-real-estate-in-your-california-neighborhood/

Back in 2006, about 10 percent of California single-family homes were purchased in all-cash transactions, according to the real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions. A decade later, it’s nearly 25 percent...

Many of the recently arrived Chinese snapping up California properties are holders of EB-5 visas—a U.S. program granting green cards to foreigners who invest $500,000 in U.S. business...

So the provincial government (BC) slapped a 15 percent tax on all sales to foreign home buyers. The immediate response was stunning: Within a few months, the price of a single-family property in the greater Vancouver area dropped 20 percent. In contrast, prices in Toronto and other major Canadian cities kept rising—buoyed in part by foreign capital searching for a new market outside Vancouver.

Here is a broader US article and a key reason they want to make it easy for rich to immigrate here no questions asked as now exists here in California:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrap...reigners-to-buy-u-s-real-estate/#62b4446f1392

But the real motivation behind the change in the Act back in December is a tax exemption that makes it easier (and cheaper) for foreign stock funds and REITs to buy American real estate. This also opens the door for institutional investors, particularly those in Europe, who are dealing with zero yield and negative interest rates and don't have attractive options for capital preservation long term. Now they have a tax-friendly haven

And all of that has nothing to do with the affordable housing crisis in rural Colorado. And that suggests that the problem is a bit more complex than foreign investment in real estate.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

Amen

Actually there is. The gummanent, either local, state or national, owns virtually ALL the open space near these towns where private land values are so high. Those units of control need to provide space where developers could mix lower and upper price homes where a local government agency could allow income-based sales to be set up for some of the dwellings.

Breckenridge's Wellington neighborhood is arranged that way. The town provided the space and the developer built similar dwellings, a percentage of which remain designated for ownership by folks whose income falls below some average. The original space, formerly a mess of gold dredging rock piles from a century ago, was built out at about 300 homes last year and an adjacent space is being built now. The town just built some rental units and has put some condos up for deed-restricted sales. The restrictions on all these properties require local employment. But there is the problem mentioned earlier of seniors retiring. We were in that category after seven years of occupancy and my advanced age before health reasons sent us to lower elevations.

 

[scott43]

So we got rental housing built here. The municipal government waived $3 mil in development charges and the regional government paid $66 mil to actually build the building. The developer allowed the second tower on their site in return for greater density on their initial tower. So really this was an entirely governmental project. Which is great but may not fly with certain people..

 

[graham418]

The bottom line is ...The Bottom Line. The dollars drive anything,and everything, so everyone has to be able to make buck in order for it to happen. It not going to happen otherwise. Creativity in zoning, tax relief, easing of constraints, etc. can help make it more appealing to developers to build more affordable housing. There is an interesting redevelopment project in Toronto being funded by the developer, that will yield affordable rental stock, and also saleable condos through densification. It remains to be seen how it will turn out in the long run, but many eyes are watching it as a possible solution