Some towns are in a dither over 40 B, they don't know how to handle them, yet, everyone wants affordable housing. Instead of panic, towns need to look at their present zoning, and consider how to clean up the areas that are now affordable, make them more attractive and perhaps change some of the zoning they have had on the books for years.
Having been in real estate for years, I still do not consider myself an expert, due to the constant flux of circumstances in the market, one has to be able to change direction constantly . Right now, some of the suggestions I have heard, make sense, such as renovation of houses in affordable areas of town.
Town can take inventory of the low tax areas, and evaluate each house as to the number of violations existing, and cost of repair and replacement. In this thoughtful manner, neighborhoods can be evaluated as to whether a zoning change would benefit the whole neighborhood. If for example the homes are on 5,000 sf lots and losing value because of run down neighborhood, new zoning could be put in place in this circumstance that would allow ( for point I am trying to make I will choose an arbitrary number)the lots to be put together to allow a developer to gather up a minimum of 30,000 sf or 6 lots on which he could build 12 units of which 4 would be affordable if the town required that. This is one solution, which is far superior to the idea of building 1 affordable in every 8 houses proposed in a subdivision. (My husband and I are proponents of low density, not over 10 to the acre if possible)
Another idea is to have the developer buy and fix up a house in an affordable area, that has multi family in existence so he could take a single family home and make it into a two family, it is a win win for the seller and the developer and the town, because it increase the value of the property, the incoming taxes to the town and solves the problem of affordable houses.
The problems are not well thought out. Affordable homes have too many strings on them now, and the ideas that have not risen to the surface are cut off, with only one approach to the problem. Everyone wants home ownership whether they can afford it or not, witness the debacle that occurred with the relaxation of the bank requirements to get a loan, and the destruction of the stock market, when these worthless loans from FNMA and Freddie Mac were packaged and sold to unsuspecting buyers all over the world.
From my perspective, as an observer who sees both sides of the coin, we need to consider more viable options and leave the doors open.
Consider this:
Zoning...........In a town that has a historic value of low priced homes, 2 acre lots do not make sense to a developer, since the cost of developing land is tremendous, with anywhere from 5- 20 plus years involved in the planning and permitting of a subdivision. Add on to this the tremendous cost of infrastructure, and road frontage for the large lots, and you price yourself out of the market. So, a low value town with big acre zoning, should re-consider the value of keeping the big lot requirement. Re-Zoning, not only the large acre requirement but looking at the town as a whole and figuring out how to improve the whole town by zoning changes that benefit all. Zoning is the very best tool any town has to improve itself. It is like having money in the bank.
Affordable homes......They can fit in any restructuring of a town, and they should be set up to be sold at some point to the people who benefit from the ability to buy one. Right now they are tied to the town who shares in the profit, rightly so, because of reduced taxes, etc. However, why not establish a value when the first owner wants to sell, and make it possible to buy out the towns share, so the first owner can stay in the house, with a process that is done through mediation and 3 real estate value experts who set the price on the house. Now the affordable housing returns to the free market, as it ages.
Affordables should always be offered in a number of ways to a developer and the most attractive way for a town to benefit, is to allow off site locations to be purchased by the developer of a subdivision. This allows the free market to work, without restriction and everyone is a winner. The seller who can not fix up his house because of lack of money, the developer that needs the credit, and the town gets a property of higher value in a low value neighborhood , that it designates as a location for rehabilitation.
The real solution is to use the money in the bank (ZONING ABILITY) to grow more money. Re evaluate the town, with a panel of people that can contribute to the thought process. In Framingham we are lucky to have the College to evaluate neighborhood values, from a non partisan point of view. Bankers can give their input as to what they consider the neighborohood loan worthiness is, now and with a zoning change. Begin by working on areas that need help to bring themselves to becoming attractive places to live. The free market could suprise you!
For an example of total dismay in the market, look at what happened to the over 55 housing. The market died, and each person who lives in an over 55 unit that wants to sell, has become trapped by the zoning restriction, in addition to a dead housing market. A double whammy!. Maybe it is time to look at that also. You can see that the market forces are always at work in an up market or a down market. The towns have to learn to keep re evaluating their zoning and improving their towns, rather than regulating and bringing more problems and higher costs.
Why do we insist on rigid zoning? Years ago, I witnessed a Texas town with open zoning, that allowed ideas to be presented to the Planning Board and through this process, the city developed. A true developer and good engineer is a design team, with a gift to look at the land and follow the design of nature, but hands are tied, by rigid laws, that cause the team to be defensive against the political onslaught of the town.
I propose that a forward looking town, consider the re evaluation of its problem areas, and decide what they would like to have happen there, including affordable houses and apartments, looked at as a group. Then allow that area to become an open zoning area, so that people that want to develop can look at the area, figure out what they can afford to purchase at market prices, and make a proposal to the town that would bring an attractive change to the area. This would allow the owners in the area to sell run down property, and the town will gain increased value property, higher taxes, and the affordables for sale and or rent would be part of the zoning package. No rigid laws, just let the market work!
Another example is to take an area of two acre lots and if someone has a large holding let it be presented in various zones....50 acres could be designed to produce.....75-100 houses in various designs, such as 26 single family in a condominium with conserved land on small lots, intermixed with affordables, a group of apartment buildings with units for rent including affordables, and perhaps 25 homes on 1/2 acre lots and another 25 homes on 1 acre lots. The land has to dictate the use and a good engineer and developer given free rein to come up with the best plan they can come up with, might surprise you, if they know up front that the proposal will accept at least a minimum of so many houses, so they are not forced to come in with 200 houses on the plan to end up with 100 houses.
Remember, affordable housing is not a gift, someone is paying all along the line. So it makes sense to have it happen as part of an improvement project for the whole town, using the free market.
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