Free isn’t really realistic at the scale we need it. We can make it free for people who are that destitute, but most of us just need housing at a reasonable rate.
Luckily, if I spend 30 million dollars to build 60 bachelor or couples units I can easily reserve a few for that. And the other 50 units will easily cover the cost of the building, maintenance, and remodels, over the next 50 years. Just charging them purely “at cost” would amount to about 1,500 dollars a month. And that’s in the places where it’s expensive to build. So other rentals are going for 3,000 for bachelor’s and couples in that area and the net effect is to drop an anchor in the housing market there.
When you centrally plan what resources will be needed at what price and what the completed apartments will sell for, you get much cheaper and higher quality apartments than the paper thin walled engineered lumber 5-over-1s we pay half a million for.
I’m quoting from some of the most expensive real estate in the US. While we might get some savings from economies of scale, it’s important realize that doing this purely on the market could save Americans 50 percent on their rent.
Free isn’t really realistic at the scale we need it. We can make it free for people who are that destitute, but most of us just need housing at a reasonable rate.
Luckily, if I spend 30 million dollars to build 60 bachelor or couples units I can easily reserve a few for that. And the other 50 units will easily cover the cost of the building, maintenance, and remodels, over the next 50 years. Just charging them purely “at cost” would amount to about 1,500 dollars a month. And that’s in the places where it’s expensive to build. So other rentals are going for 3,000 for bachelor’s and couples in that area and the net effect is to drop an anchor in the housing market there.
Half a million per unit? Average apartment construction cost in Shanghai is ~$52.3/sqft, that’s a bit under $50K/900sqft 2bd apartment. Elsewhere in China is cheaper.
When you centrally plan what resources will be needed at what price and what the completed apartments will sell for, you get much cheaper and higher quality apartments than the paper thin walled engineered lumber 5-over-1s we pay half a million for.
US cities have literally paid organizations more than that per year per person for tent camps.
I’m quoting from some of the most expensive real estate in the US. While we might get some savings from economies of scale, it’s important realize that doing this purely on the market could save Americans 50 percent on their rent.
It’s low hanging fruit at this point.