Is There a Housing Crisis

Information Tidbits

1. Density is not evil. Lack of integration/planning is evil. [1]
2. 'Open Arms Infill' - where you are welcome to bring the site up. [2]
3. 1000 sf size is acceptable [3]
4. Cheapest new house is $94/sf at $200k - [4]
5. Median house cost - $128k Mayville mo. [5].
6. South midwest and south east, at $250k around for median price. [6]
7. Detroit is like 1/3 the average housing cost! [7]
8. Cost of low rent afforded by the poorest people makes apartment operating cost unsustainable? [8]
9. Tax credits apply to those whose income is 60% of median [9]
10. Extremely low income means 30% of median (AMI) [10]
11. Current standard for affordability: no more than 30% of gross income [11]
12. 60% of median rent in Denver is $900/mo. [12]
13. Favela property values are on the rise and speculation + forced removals are in. [13]
14. It costs $10M on average to build a 50 unit apartment. [14]
15. For apartment building - 20% is land, 40% construction. About 50% is capital and soft costs. About $70k/unit for construction, not including land. Average apartment is 900 sf. average $125/sf for construction. [15]
16. Management expenses for apartments are 3-7% [16]. Ex. $25k for a complex that makes $500k/year. Also, cap rate is ratio of return after operating expenses to what you paid.
17. Kanye West got into homeless housing, but no substance is apparent online -[17]
18. Zero-down loans do exist - for rural homes, and veterans, and native Americans [18]
19. Brookings Institution suggestions - good ones. One is a call for transparency of build (open source). [19]
20. It costs $100-200/sf to build a house. [20]
21. Habitat for Humanity is both a builder and a mortgage company - [21]

Issues

1. KC situation. Affordable is rent only of $700. [22]. If SEH costs $100k, can we do rehnt at $700/month? Link to a guy building affordable homes, 5 per year.
2. Inclusionary (affordable) zoning - actually increases housing costs? [23]
3. Essential conflict of interest between big builder profits and affordability? [24]

Solutions

1. Habitat does CEO Builds - [25]. May not scale well without Extreme Manufacturing principles
2. Crazy ass package of volunteer swarms address labor costs, tech schoolers gain skills and pay for OSE services, owner puts in sweat equity as well, OSE acts as event organizer-collaborative designer-knowhow provider-machine pool; city and other interests provide free or near-free land; long-term strategy revitalizes entire neighborhoods, and productive microfactories produce materials (doors, windows, appliances, trim, solar concrete, 3d printed lumber)

Revenue Models

1. Apartment complex economics. $700/mo. One year at $8.4k. Works with free land and utilities using Radical Waste Treatment.