Part of the American dream is to climb the property ladder and live in the nicest neighborhood possible. We spend more than half our lives at home, so we want a neighborhood that offers as much peace, quiet, safety, and convenience as our budget allows.
As an old man with young kids, long gone are the days of wanting to live somewhere rowdy with a bar on every corner. Thanks to grocery and food delivery apps, I don't even need to live close to a supermarket anymore.
In my mind, the ideal neighborhood sits on top of a hill that nobody has heard of. The obscurity is great for getting a better deal as a buyer. But the bigger benefit is foot traffic. The fewer people who know your neighborhood exists, the fewer who walk or drive through it. And the fewer people who pass through, the more peace, tranquility, and cozy nestled feeling you get to enjoy at home.
Obscurity helps on the safety front too. There's a great saying about nice neighborhoods: crime don't climb. If you can easily walk somewhere from your house, so can shady characters. It's the same logic behind my love of homes with fully enclosed front and back yards, which make up only about 3% to 4% of single-family homes in San Francisco. You get that private and protected feeling that is incredibly valuable when you have a family to protect.
Whatever your definition of a nice neighborhood is, I hope you eventually get to live in one. Just know there's one downside to finally climbing to the top of your property ladder that nobody brings up at the open house.
The Unexpected Problem Of Living In A Nicer Neighborhood
In 2023, I bought a home in a nicer neighborhood. It's a remodeled house on an oversized lot with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sure, I could have made more money in stocks or private AI companies, but I chose to live more of life now while my kids are still at home.
One of my favorite things to do is nap after a workout and a nice lunch.
Since I retired in 2012, I've napped anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour between 1 pm and 3 pm. It is the most glorious activity, letting your body fall asleep along its normal circadian rhythm. Once the battery charges back up, you get to enjoy the rest of the day with full vigor, especially if you pick up the kids early to give them lessons.
Well, unfortunately, I haven't been able to nap consistently for the past six months. Why?
Remodeling Mania
Because my neighbor two doors down decided to do a gut remodel. Several months later, my neighbor three houses down on the same side started one too. Two months after that, my neighbor down the hill behind me finally moved in and began his own gut remodel, including the outdoor deck, all new windows, and a full re-plastering of the house. Then another neighbor got inspired and kicked off a partial remodel.
And if that weren't enough, my neighbor across the street sold his house off market while we were in Hawaii for a month. The buyers got a deal because the seller was a 70-year-old single man who had built a decent fortune in real estate and just wanted a quick close. Naturally, they're doing a gut remodel as well.
The other day a huge truck showed up with four workers demolishing and hauling stuff out of the house. I had to sleep on my office sofa on the other side of the house just to attempt a nap. Over the next three to six months, I'm sure there will be plenty more trucks and noise.
Five neighbors doing extensive remodeling in the span of about eight months. For someone who writes from home every day, this is an unfortunate series of events.
There's usually some respite between 12 pm and 1 pm for lunch. But right during the window when I'm trying to take a peaceful nap between 1 pm – 3pm, the pounding, drilling, and sawing starts back up.
So now you know. The one negative of living in a nicer neighborhood is that your neighbors remodel far more frequently than homeowners in less expensive neighborhoods do. And if you're retired or work from home, you're going to hear a lot more of it than you'd like.
Some Remedies to Cancel out the Noise
There are some relatively easy solutions.
The easiest is to wear noise-canceling headphones while you work or nap.But wearing a headset to fall asleep takes getting used to, so there's that.
You can also just leave home. Go work from a coffee shop or a park. Schedule more pickleball and tennis hits with your friends who are also retired. Instead of coming home at 3:30 pm after school pickup, take the kids to the playground or the sports club for another hour or two so you come home to peace and quiet.
The remodeling noise usually ends by 6 pm, and often by 5 pm from what I've observed. There are city ordinances in place that protect the peace as well. So it's not forever.
Three Silver Linings to All the Remodeling Noise
Noise is a creativity killer for writers like me. I can't concentrate unless it's white noise that lets my mind float. But since I can't stop my neighbors from remodeling, what I can do is take advantage of the extra time I get from not napping.
Instead of winding down after lunch, I started eating less and playing pickleball for a couple of hours before picking up the kids. As a result, I've gotten more exercise and had more social interaction with some cool people.
On my rest days, I use the old nap window to write more of my upcoming book about increasing the odds our children will be OK. There's always something new to add, or something old to edit. Every book I've written has taken at least 10 drafts and at least 20 edits total across five different people. It is a painfully slow process that requires patience.
So all this remodeling noise has made me healthier and more productive, which I'm thankful for. Then there's the financial benefit.
The Financial Benefit To Extensive Neighborhood Remodeling
All five homes being gut remodeled around me are old. Nobody lived in the one down the hill when we bought our house, so it must have sat empty for at least four years.
The home across the street is not the most attractive, so I'm hoping the new buyers improve the facade. The other two are getting beautiful paint jobs. Every dollar spent remodeling those five houses helps the value of every other house on the street, including mine.
I've gut remodeled three homes, so I appreciate the money, time, and effort it takes to make a property awesome. And since I'm home most of the day, I can tell roughly how much is going into each one.
I also have new appreciation for how efficient my old contractor was, even though I was annoyed at the time. The home down the hill has been working on their deck for four months now, which is shockingly slow.
When I built my deck and opened up the main bedroom wall at my old place, the whole thing was done in a month, including new sliding doors.
Most remodeling jobs recover 80% to at most 100% of cost. But in a city like San Francisco that is experiencing a boom loop due to AI, a good remodel can boost value by 20% or more above what you spent. If you then spend money expanding the livable square footage, your return skyrockets since the cost per square foot to build is cheaper than the average selling price per square foot.
The higher end the home, the more remodeling pays off because time becomes more valuable to these type of buyers.
Why I'm Never Remodeling Again
Personally, I'm done with big remodels. The delays and cost overruns are brutal.
Getting permits in San Francisco takes forever. If you draw a different inspector for plumbing, electrical, and building, you can be delayed indefinitely. One inspector wants one thing, the next wants another. It's like they don't talk to each other.
The rules also change every single year. Touch one thing and you're forced to update everything else to the latest code. Permits are good for safety and boosting resale value, but it's a pain for the remodeler, which is why so many homeowners do without them.
At my age, I'd happily pay a premium for a fully remodeled home rather than put in sweat equity for the gain. The government corruption and inefficiencies at the Department of Building Inspection actually boost home values given they make building and remodeling more costly.
When I found my home in 2023, it had been fully remodeled within the prior three years. Plumbing, electrical, walls, appliances, floors, windows, all replaced. It's been a godsend.
The only thing I've had to do is replace some rotten fence boards I missed during inspection. So make sure you always get a professional inspection done. The most I'll do in the future is swap fixtures and appliances and repaint.
Things to Check Before You Buy In A Nice Neighborhood
If you're bidding on a home in a nice neighborhood, pay special attention to the three houses to your right, three to your left, three in front, and three behind.
Inspect their condition and get to know your potential neighbors if you can. The younger the occupants and the more recently remodeled the homes, the lower your odds of construction starting up next door.
Older occupants usually come with older homes that haven't been touched in decades. It takes too much activation energy to remodel late in life. These are the folks who eventually move into assisted living or in with their kids, then sell to new buyers who want to gut everything.
I did meet some of my neighbors when I bought, all over age 65, and I knew the house below was empty. I just didn't put two and two together that turnover was imminent and remodeling would follow.
But even with the wisdom I have now, I still would have bought our place given the value.
We got a good three years of peace and quiet before the jackhammers and electric saws arrived. Now I'm hoping all of it wraps within six months for another 10-plus years of quiet.
And if not, well, my pickleball game has never been better.
Readers, have you dealt with a wave of remodeling on your street? Did you think about the age of your neighbors and the condition of their homes before you bought, or did you only figure it out after the first demo truck showed up? For those of you who work from home, how do you handle the noise?
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