Ugh... this drives me nuts... (Page 2/4)
MidEngineManiac AUG 16, 01:58 PM

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Originally posted by Blacktree:

A recent trend in my area is to put the garage in the BACK of the house, with a narrow alley connecting all the garages. That allows the use of super-narrow lots, with the houses crowded together like "virtual apartments".



There is a development going up like that in the city here. Damn things aren't 15 feet wide but 40-50 long. All duplexes and starting around 300k, only a crawlspace. No basement.. Crap, buy a mobile for 100k have more room and privacy. Same thing.
82-T/A [At Work] AUG 16, 07:58 PM

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Originally posted by maryjane:

Of course, at my son's place, no one ever uses that main entryway.........almost everyone enters thru the garage..the entryway is just an aesthetic issue and serves no real purpose other than that. OTOH, I also very much dislike boxy tickytacky houses.

The hallway at the main entrance of my son's home, imo, is the biggest waste of space in the house. Too wide by at least 2' feet...and for no good reason.

(I abhor the loss of farmland, because it's permanent. It will never come back, but the county governments love that loss of vital farm capacity..even my county)





How come they don't use the entryway? Is it because they pull their cars into the garage and go in that way? So... by virtue of that, they always go in through the garage?

For me, I keep my two cars in the driveway, and then I have my Crown Victoria in the garage. The other side of the garage is basically open and clear. I sometimes do some work in there, but mostly I have the bikes in there. I keep it open in case I need to set up the table saw or do some project for home renovations... most of which I usually do in the drive anyway so I can just sweep the sawdust into the grass... but because of that, we ALWAYS use the front door.

This is a house that I lived in for two and a half years in the DC Metro Area. It was actually VERY reasonably priced (believe it or not). I think I paid $1,800 a month for it. At the time, I wasn't making a whole lot, so with state taxes and all the other BS, I can recall that I ran a budget deficit of $12 a month. I had no debt going out there, so it came out of my savings. But never the less, this is what I rented. It was 1,400 square feet. I don't want to act all 1st world problems... but I've always abhorred town houses. The thing about townhouses is that you get none of the benefits of a row house, and all the negatives of the suburbs. So what I mean by that is... the POSITIVES of living in a row-house is that you live in the city, and everything great that comes with that. And of course in the suburbs, the positive is that you have a large house and expansive space.

In a townhouse in the suburbs... it just sucks... all the negatives, none of the positives. That's what this was. But... for my small family, it was just what we needed... so I made do. Obviously, when I think about people in the outskirts of Cairo living in homes made very literally of stacked mud and trash, I certainly don't feel bad. But... yeah... this is what I lived in for 2.5 years (one of these)...




As for farmland... yeah, in the case of where I have a house in Fort Lauderdale... the farmland had been there a long time, but it was the farmer who sold due to the fact that he got such a huge offer on the land. He kept about half the land, and then sold another half of that. For the next ~10 years, he held onto the last quarter of the original land, and sold it back in 2017 when real estate started getting really, really, really hot in South Florida (still is). All the homes built on that parcel were postage-stamp sized homes that were $1 million+, which is insane. They also built a Walmart Neighborhood Market which... you'd never think this would be a classy thing, but it's Walmart's attempt at being fancy. They JUST sell groceries. There's also an Aldis and a Trader Joes on the same block. But yeah... I assume the county loves it because they get much more property tax income than they would get with farmland.
Patrick AUG 16, 08:10 PM

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Originally posted by maryjane:

A much more sensual version......but I think she may have been smoking something while performing it...





Rather limited use of the guitar.

blackrams AUG 16, 08:28 PM

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Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:


I know I'll get some flak for posting this... but this is an example of the type of house that's super-common today. These are the kinds of homes that I absolutely abhor and would never be caught dead living in one:




There is nothing I hate more than a home that says... "Welcome to my garage. If you want to come inside, the front door is on the side..."




IMHO, people are nuts to live in houses like that but, apparently they don't care. I also don't really want a set of garage doors on the front of my home but, sometimes it's the only way to make it work. The home we just finished was intended to have the garage doors on the side. But, the more we looked at that option, the more problems we saw. We access our property via an easement. A side garage entrance would have put the garage doors on a very narrow and steep incline not conducive to easily getting into the garage. So, I changed the house plan and now have a front entrance. It doesn't look bad, in fact our neighbors think it looks great but, it wasn't what I really wanted to do. Some times you have to compromise.

Homes like the one shown are built by developers for one reason. Narrow lots allow for more driveways and homes to be built on each block. If zoning will permit it, they will build it.

Rams

[This message has been edited by blackrams (edited 08-16-2020).]

Wichita AUG 16, 10:00 PM

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Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

Well, remember... it all has to do with location. In places where homes are 500k, people generally also make more.




I get that, but generally if you look at the average salary across the US isn't so much different. The average salary in Florida $43,328 a year.

I don't get how many people can afford a $500K house with an average salary.

MidEngineManiac AUG 16, 10:20 PM

quote
Originally posted by Wichita:


I get that, but generally if you look at the average salary across the US isn't so much different. The average salary in Florida $43,328 a year.

I don't get how many people can afford a $500K house with an average salary.



They cant. They creative finance for a quarillion-zillion years and pray to hell nothing goes wrong between now and then.
82-T/A [At Work] AUG 17, 09:18 AM

quote
Originally posted by Wichita:

I get that, but generally if you look at the average salary across the US isn't so much different. The average salary in Florida $43,328 a year.

I don't get how many people can afford a $500K house with an average salary.




So, it matters where in Florida too. Cost of living in the state is actually quite low. There are no state income taxes, and even the property taxes are much lower than in other states, and the lowest of all states that do not have state income taxes. Vehicle registration is also very inexpensive (about ~$40 a year, per car) with no safety or emissions inspections.

But in Miami and Fort Lauderdale for example, the homes are very expensive. Tampa is also starting to get expensive, but nowhere near like it is in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Places like Jacksonville, Ocala, and the South-West are very affordable, and the cost of living is really quite inexpensive.

So for example, a 3/2 home in Jacksonville in a decent area, is maybe a $150k home. But the same home in Fort Lauderdale is a $500k home.


So, it's all relative...
css9450 AUG 17, 12:10 PM
I live in a "Chicago-style bungalow" (that's a real thing; go ahead and Google it if you need to see what they look like). Typically, the lots are REALLY narrow so the garage is either at the rear corner of the house, or behind the house and reached via the alley behind the house. I suppose one nice thing about the really narrow lots, is they usually can't be the subject of "teardown" development.... You know, when someone buys it and tears it down to put up a new house twice the size on the same lot. Some suburbs have lots of them; Hinsdale IL is the poster child for teardowns. Sometimes they tear down a tiny little 50s-era dump but sometimes they tear down a really nice house that otherwise would have lasted another 100 years.
Monkeyman AUG 17, 07:41 PM
I've been function over form for longer than I can remember. My idea of the "perfect" house? 2 story, concrete, 4 car garage downstairs (can't really put a garage upstairs), living space upstairs. Do I care if I'm the only one who likes it? Not really. I'm the one making the payments. Will it make it in Architectural Digest? Probably not. Again, do I care? Nope. If someone wants to live in a yurt, so be it. (Wait. A yurt w/a garage? Hmmm....) Heck, I don't have a garage here. Not even a NC garage (aka carport). All my crap sits outside in the weather. Give me a big garage and an enclosed bathroom and I'm set.
Jake_Dragon AUG 17, 09:10 PM
I would love a home like that.
Hell if I could afford it I would just have a big open bay garage with a small apartment on the top.

Sit out in the garage with the door open enjoying the southern CA breeze. Back before the Covid you could even invite your neighbor over.
We have even been known to stand out on the side walk and drink a beer or three while shooting the **** with the guy down the street.

So while it doesn't appeal to everyone I would love to have a house with access like that.