Change is coming to communities across Washington State. Do you need guidance about what middle housing means for your buyers and sellers? Middle Housing - duplexes, triplexes, cottages, ADUs, and increased density - is already impacting what can be built on a property. Knowing where, what, and when these changes are coming to your community will be critically important. The Middle Housing Resource Center, will be chock-full of videos, resources, and more, all designed to help you become an essential expert to your clients.
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When it comes to middle housing, I am excited about everything that is happening here in Washington State and around the country! I just came back from the International Builder Show in Las Vegas and my goodness, middle housing on everybody’s top list of things to talk and learn about! Any type of exhibit that had anything to do with alternative housing, smaller housing, and affordable housing included some middle housing education. These areas were busy-busy on the showroom floor.
So, we know that middle housing is here to stay and this this week I have three things to talk about as relate to middle housing.
Foremost, number one, it is often more expensive to build a smaller product. Smaller homes and smaller housing areas are more expensive because of infrastructure costs. What I'm seeing in the industry is a lot of innovation and activity to help solve that problem by building off-site.
Now it used to be that off-site of anything was just not acceptable to many consumers, but today, because of the advantage of avoiding bad climate, it is becoming much more popular. Building science around building homes in factories is at a level I haven't seen before. I'm going to make a little prediction - building an ADU, an attached unit, or even townhome products; we are going to be seeing more of these kinds of housing built in factories, trucking them to properties, and craning them into place.
That doesn't mean that a homeowner that is going to do this doesn't need to worry about permitting, site work, setbacks, allowances, utilities, and all kinds of other things, but big changes are coming to how we will build different kinds of middle housing which will help improve affordability of constructing these units.
The second thing I want you to know is that design detail is extremely important when it comes to building a smaller product. You have to think about how to use every inch of space from windows to floors, ceilings to walls. Every space needs to serve a purpose and the amount of creativity that I am seeing in small space design is nothing short of amazing.
I saw so many solutions for small spaces at the International Builder Show. One thing I've often said is that if you are going to build a small-space kitchen, then you make sure that every drawer is strong enough to be stood-upon and well made because pulling-out drawers gives you more space than opening up a cabinet door. That goes for kick-board drawers, slide out cupboard spaces, and so many other areas of innovation.
Finally, I am following not just legislative issues here in Washington State, but in many other places around the U.S. and what I am seeing is that we as a nation are changing the way that we feel about housing. As a nation we now understand that we have an affordable housing issue. As a member of that discovery and legislative process, I am excited to report that I am seeing more solutions headed our way. I'll detail these more as they get closer to the legislative finish-line just like I did with HB1110 and HB1337 here in Washington State. You can learn about some of these ideas being discussed here and here, but there is much more being worked on than is ready to be shown there just yet.
What I want to emphasize here is that, as a real estate professional you need to know what is going on with middle housing. You need to be able to account for it when you are pricing property and be able to determine whether a property could potentially have an ADU built on it and what the potential price benefit may be. There is value in providing housing in an area that experiencing a housing shortage. Put middle housing education top on your list of things to learn about this year and start building top-of-mind-knowledge around this important topic because you are going to face questions about middle housing when you are out in the field.
By Denise Lones CSP, CMP, M.I.R.M.The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones has over three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development and more, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.