My Vacant Lot in San Diego County | Wolf Street

Not only do city planning commissions place obstacles in the way of private developers, like myself, they rubber stamp shoddy work by house flippers, who can double the value of a shack with a few dollars worth of stucco. These are often buildings with serious flaws, grandfathered in.

While the city struggles with state mandates for affordable housing, they actively fuel housing inflation. States like California and Florida are working at breaking up these municipal government cartels by direct legislative oversight of zoning rules.

The buyer of the lot hasn t broken ground yet. I think he found City Hall was not going to help him. Myself, I was ready to sell the lot and move on. The agent said to me at one point, you re emotionally involved with this property. And yeah I was, but I think most people who buy property have no idea what they are getting into. Meanwhile I am looking for some land in the rural part of Riverside County, just sagebrush and coyotes.

via wolfstreet.com

California (bad) dreamin’. It looks like an application of Mancur Olsen’s theories to real estate. Out where I am, there are few (but not no) restrictions on development. And I’ve noticed people build what they want to, local ordinances be damned. I’m too scared to do that myself, with minor exceptions. Over time, these thick layers of regulation end up taking a big bite out of the value of your property. I wish the writer good luck on his land in Riverside County. Remember to be nice to the coyotes.