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Comment by village-idiot | Hacker News Reader

In my area (socal) the gap between really nice housing and garbage is shockingly small.

Not a rental unit, but the gap between a crappy house (unmaintained 1950s with a staircase in the bathroom) and an ultra modern home with a pool next door was only 20% or so. I view this as a sign that the market is way off its mark.

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land is generally 90%+ of the value out here in santa monica. 1 story tear downs go for $2M in the area i live. the new owners usually want to build their own thing - a big spanish style ranch or weird japanese/modernist house - it's the land that's valuable and scarce, not the access to construction crews and building materials

Curious about which is next door to the modern home - is it a modern home with a pool, next to a 1950s home? Or is it a modern home next door to a house with a pool, in a different neighborhood than the 1950s house?

In the past, I've heard that a house's value can maximize at 140% of the value of its neighbors, so a 1950s house in the same neighborhood as the modern house might drag down the modern house's value.

Not if it’s a mid century modern. Also in LA you can basically build whatever you want. There are few deed restrictions etc...

>staircase in the bathroom

Wow how does that happen?

I wondered that as well.

Remove a wall that separates them. In college, I rented in a house with a toilet in the hallway. Because the landlord took the bathroom door away, and cut a hole in the wall to the other bedroom, so the bathroom became a hallway.

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