Will this help or hurt my home value?

[Deleted]

My development is 40+ years old and has basically 4 different house styles. The neighbor across the street has the same house as us, mirror image on the first floor, slightly different layout on the second floor, both 1600 sq ft, both 2 car garage, both approx .5 acre. We have a finished basement, they do not, and they have a master bath, we do not. Our house was updated in the 90's, theirs is still all original, including the 1970's appliances (avocado green anyone?). They paid slightly more for their house 2 years ago than we did 4 years ago. But currently Zillow has ours valued about $8K above theirs.

They are planning on adding an 800+ sq ft addition that will be IL quarters. This addition will include a small kitchen, full bath, MB, and sitting area.

Tonight is the Zoning Board meeting because they are seeking a variance. My H and I are going, because we want to support them. I honestly for the most part don't care what they do on their property, plus it will be on the back of their house that we can't see anyway. I was wondering though, if anyone would be against this, and if home value for us neighbors would be a factor. What do you guys think? 

[hamster]

I assume it would be a wash.

Personally, IL quarters for us were an automatic cross off the list for us, so we would pick your house over theirs.

[tiki]

I would expect an addition to increase their home value, and generally anything that increases neighborhood home values will also be good for you. Exceptions might be if the addition negatively impacted your house (like it added a brightly lit window that looked directly into your home) or if you needed to sell while their addition was being built and a prospective buyer was turned off by the construction.

[orval]

I would be ok with it except for the concern they may rent it out as a rental property or Air B&B. It may be for inlaws now, but that could change. So you may have random people in and out over time.

[flygirl]

We already have issues with everyone parking in front of our house, so I’d be concerned about that and also the potential rental later which would be even worse.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2019 9:30:09 GMT -5 orval said:

I would be ok with it except for the concern they may rent it out as a rental property or Air B&B. It may be for inlaws now, but that could change. So you may have random people in and out over time.

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. My neighborhood is all SFH however, the original farmhouse is still here (my development use to be some sort of orchard or something) and that is apartments. Last night we went to the Zoning Board Meeting to support our neighbors just in case anyone else came and was objecting. One of the conditions of my neighbor getting approved for this addition is that they had to submit an affidavit (I might be using the wrong word here) that they will not use the IL Suite for a rental, and that affidavit stays with the house, so even if they sell some day, new owners would not be able to rent it out either. 

[wanderingback]

Dec 10, 2019 7:27:40 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

Dec 9, 2019 9:30:09 GMT -5 orval said:

I would be ok with it except for the concern they may rent it out as a rental property or Air B&B. It may be for inlaws now, but that could change. So you may have random people in and out over time.

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. My neighborhood is all SFH however, the original farmhouse is still here (my development use to be some sort of orchard or something) and that is apartments. Last night we went to the Zoning Board Meeting to support our neighbors just in case anyone else came and was objecting. One of the conditions of my neighbor getting approved for this addition is that they had to submit an affidavit (I might be using the wrong word here) that they will not use the IL Suite for a rental, and that affidavit stays with the house, so even if they sell some day, new owners would not be able to rent it out either. 

Wow is that common where you live?
I've only been a home owner for a couple of years so I don't know how common that type of agreement is. 
Obviously they have no choice but to sign it, but I wouldn't be happy that I would forever be forbidden from renting to a tenant. I personally wouldn't buy a house with such stipulation. 

[Deleted]

Dec 11, 2019 21:26:34 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Dec 10, 2019 7:27:40 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. My neighborhood is all SFH however, the original farmhouse is still here (my development use to be some sort of orchard or something) and that is apartments. Last night we went to the Zoning Board Meeting to support our neighbors just in case anyone else came and was objecting. One of the conditions of my neighbor getting approved for this addition is that they had to submit an affidavit (I might be using the wrong word here) that they will not use the IL Suite for a rental, and that affidavit stays with the house, so even if they sell some day, new owners would not be able to rent it out either. 

Wow is that common where you live?
I've only been a home owner for a couple of years so I don't know how common that type of agreement is. 
Obviously they have no choice but to sign it, but I wouldn't be happy that I would forever be forbidden from renting to a tenant. I personally wouldn't buy a house with such stipulation. 

I don't know the specifics of everything, but there is some sort of zoning rule that you can't have a second kitchen in a single family home. In my (albeit small) town there are only 2 other homes that have an "IL Suite" that includes its own kitchen, and both of those also had to get a variance. Part of what my neighbors had to sign says that if they ever stop using the addition as an IL Suite that they need to remove the stove. I'm sure that they could still rent out their actual house, but they can't rent out this addition. 

[TR]

Dec 12, 2019 7:36:52 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

Dec 11, 2019 21:26:34 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Wow is that common where you live?
I've only been a home owner for a couple of years so I don't know how common that type of agreement is. 
Obviously they have no choice but to sign it, but I wouldn't be happy that I would forever be forbidden from renting to a tenant. I personally wouldn't buy a house with such stipulation. 

I don't know the specifics of everything, but there is some sort of zoning rule that you can't have a second kitchen in a single family home. In my (albeit small) town there are only 2 other homes that have an "IL Suite" that includes its own kitchen, and both of those also had to get a variance. Part of what my neighbors had to sign says that if they ever stop using the addition as an IL Suite that they need to remove the stove. I'm sure that they could still rent out their actual house, but they can't rent out this addition. 

This is a really weird rule! Don't some people who are kosher and very serious about it have two kitchens? I wonder what the point of the rule is. To make sure people aren't running commercial kitchens out of their home?

[kadams767]

Dec 12, 2019 8:33:31 GMT -5 TR said:

Dec 12, 2019 7:36:52 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

I don't know the specifics of everything, but there is some sort of zoning rule that you can't have a second kitchen in a single family home. In my (albeit small) town there are only 2 other homes that have an "IL Suite" that includes its own kitchen, and both of those also had to get a variance. Part of what my neighbors had to sign says that if they ever stop using the addition as an IL Suite that they need to remove the stove. I'm sure that they could still rent out their actual house, but they can't rent out this addition. 

This is a really weird rule! Don't some people who are kosher and very serious about it have two kitchens? I wonder what the point of the rule is. To make sure people aren't running commercial kitchens out of their home?

The point is to discourage rentals, multigenerational style living (ie. large, typically immigrant families) and to keep out the poors and transients.  It’s a thinly veiled way to be gross without just coming out and saying it.  
 

[tiki]

Dec 12, 2019 8:33:31 GMT -5 TR said:

Dec 12, 2019 7:36:52 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

I don't know the specifics of everything, but there is some sort of zoning rule that you can't have a second kitchen in a single family home. In my (albeit small) town there are only 2 other homes that have an "IL Suite" that includes its own kitchen, and both of those also had to get a variance. Part of what my neighbors had to sign says that if they ever stop using the addition as an IL Suite that they need to remove the stove. I'm sure that they could still rent out their actual house, but they can't rent out this addition. 

This is a really weird rule! Don't some people who are kosher and very serious about it have two kitchens? I wonder what the point of the rule is. To make sure people aren't running commercial kitchens out of their home?

I've seen this rule before, too. My in-laws used to rent out their lower floor (vrbo-type, before airbnb) which had its own living room, bathroom, two bedrooms, and a kitchen *except* there couldn't be a stove.  They provided guests with a hot plate and microwave instead. One year they forgot to hide the microwave before the inspection for their rental license and the inspector told them he'd go back outside, pretend he hadn't seen it, and come in again after it was removed.