Starting over

Greg Wilson

When my wife and I purchased our Redwood City home, I was surprised to learn that the land accounted for 75% of the purchase price. That became my introduction to the intricacies of Bay Area real estate. Fortunately, although we had followed common wisdom and bought what may have been the worst house on the block, it was nevertheless quite livable. Truly, it wasn’t that the house was worth so little, but that the land was worth so much.

The house we bought was on the small side — two bedrooms, two bathrooms (one tiny) and a den plus the usual kitchen, dining and living spaces — but, for three of us (we had a 1-year-old at the time) it was enough. The house was old, though, having been built in 1921, and showed its age. The double-hung wooden windows leaked air, and some sash weights had become disconnected, making the windows difficult to open. The walls had no real insulation and, for heat, we depended on two ancient wall heaters. As for electricity, we had only 60 amps coming in from the street, through a fuse box. We frequently blew fuses when we, say, turned on the microwave while the electric clothes dryer was running.

Our house was in serious need of upgrading but, having spent nearly every penny we had just to buy it, years passed before we could contemplate making real changes. I occasionally fantasized about bulldozing the place and starting over, however, we couldn’t afford that. Instead, over the course of many years we completely remodeled the house a piece at a time, as we could afford to. Today, our house is a bit larger, with three proper bedrooms and two far more comfortable bathrooms. The house is fully insulated, with double-pane windows throughout, and all of the plumbing and wiring has been replaced.

Given our experience, I’m amazed to see people buy a house only to tear it down and build something entirely new. Of course, the houses they buy tend to be small and old, and worth only a fraction of the total purchase price. Then again, those houses aren’t worth nothing and, in the process, their value (plus the cost to demolish it) essentially gets written off entirely.

About 18 months ago, a young couple paid $2.4 million for a small house on a fairly large lot just around the corner from ours. Six months ago, they shared some basic plans for a new house, one to replace the house they’re living in today. That new house — two stories, 3,500 square feet — looks attractive and, thankfully, shouldn’t affect our backyard views significantly. But I’m amazed — and somewhat jealous — that after paying so much for their existing home, they’re seemingly able to tear it down and build an all-new house.

The other day I was out running errands when a small convoy of three semis passed in front of me, each carrying a plastic-wrapped portion of a modular home. Being me, I followed the semis into San Carlos. A pending appointment prevented me from following them to their final destination, however, I did see a crane extending above the treetops in the direction they were heading. After my appointment I returned and quickly discovered that the modules had been destined for a site on Ruby Avenue.

When I arrived, the largest of the three modules had just been placed atop one of three modules that seemingly had been installed earlier that day. Fascinated, I stuck around for 2 1/2 hours, watching the final two modules being craned into place. All told, this new house consists of six modules, plus a small stick-built garage. It is completely replacing a cute little 1940s-era house for which the current owners apparently paid around $1.8 million back in late 2017.

Based on my wild guess that the house might be 2,500 square feet in size, and based on an average all-in price (excluding land) of $650 per square foot (obtained from Method Homes, the Seattle-based modular home builder who constructed this particular home), the house may be costing the homeowners $1.625 million on top of what they originally paid for the property. That total — just under $3.5 million — is a lot, even for our area. But the resulting house should be an attractive, efficient, comfortable place in which to live.

I look on both the Ruby Avenue project and the one planned near our home with some degree of longing: An all-new house certainly has its appeal. Then again, my wife and I spent years making our house into something ideal for us, something with a great deal of character. Our house may not be perfect, but it’s comfortable, it’s paid for, and it’s home. An all-new house may have appeal, but I’ve long since stopped entertaining thoughts of starting over.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.

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