Crazy, or a New Normal?

[haha]

Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots

Now in case this link is not self-explanatory, it's about a woman in Boston's Back Bay who paid $560,000 at auction for a couple of outside, alley fronting pads.

Ha

 

[MichaelB]

I remember Manhattan parking places selling for high 6 figure amounts back before the crash. Is this a sign things are getting bubbly?

 

[Spanky]

Wow! so expensive!

This is way more expensive than an price for a parking space in Hong Kong.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/02/business/la-fi-hong-kong-parking-bubble-20130102

 

[FIREd]

And the spaces will be used for "guests and workers"! That's a lot to shell out for something that will be used only occasionally.

 

[timo2]

I would guess that this woman, to use the vernacular, is a 1%er. If not, then her spouse probably has no chance of ER

 

[bUU]

People have been buying metastable allotropes of carbon for well over a hundred years, at prices far in excess of what their value, aside their rarity, would account for. Parking spaces in certain places are just as rare.

 

[haha]

I have a space that is like these, covered but open (i.e. no garage or gate). It's quite valuable for the same use that this buyer has for it. Since I have no car, any visitor, or workman I have hired has a place to park rather than circle the block who knows how long and then park who knows how far away.

Twice I have had to call a tow truck to impound a poacher, when I expect company or other use.

However, I couldn't sell it except to another resident, and then I wouldn't have it for my needs. If one were for sale, it would bring much less than the ones featured in this article. But Boston is a much bigger and more expensive city.

Ha

 

[tryan]

What's interesting is that the sale implies it's DEEDED space. Having owned a couple rentals in Brighton (with 2 parking spaces) you quickly learn the parking is not deeded. Thus the association can paint the parking lines as they deem fit. And - therefore - you can't "improve" (roof/shed/hot-dog-stand) the space.

 

[LitGal]

Ah, the joys of living in "fly over" country..........endless free parking!

 

[haha]

Wow! so expensive!

This is way more expensive than an price for a parking space in Hong Kong.

A premium to park in Hong Kong - Los Angeles Times

But she did get 2 spaces. From your link, it appears that some spaces in Hong Kong have gone for more, per space. (Whoops- didn't notice that these are tandem spaces. Big hassle. These are very common in the tall narrow townhomes that have popped up all over since the turn off the century.

I lived in Back Bay many years ago, and parking was hopeless then too. Only worse place seemed to me to be Beacon Hill. I should have invested in parking places, and just gone fishing while they made me rich. One friend of mine did get into apartment buildings then. Boston was dirt cheap, if I had had any sense of urban land use and Boston's likely development path I wouldn't be trading lbym stories today. Most of the run down places I lived in are now parts of hospital or university or laboratory complexes. I was short sighted. All I could see was the crooked city and state management, the run down infrastructure and the horrible weather.

Dummy HaHa.

Ha

 

[Meadbh]

The car in the inner space can't get out unless the outside car is driven away first. The space comes with free WEEDS for God's sake!

I am shocked, shocked I tell you!

 

[haha]

What's interesting is that the sale implies it's DEEDED space. Having owned a couple rentals in Brighton (with 2 parking spaces) you quickly learn the parking is not deeded. Thus the association can paint the parking lines as they deem fit. And - therefore - you can't "improve" (roof/shed/hot-dog-stand) the space.

Many spaces in Seattle are deeded. This is one reason why I decided to buy a condo, rather than an co-op apartment. The co-ops can take away your site and assign it to someone else if they decide you are not using it enough. Come home from a long trip in April and there is that annoying person parked in what was your spot, but is now his. At least until he goes away for a while.

But even in the case of a condominium, there are still controls over use, as well as zoning controls.

Ha

 

[W2R]

I guess this is what it costs to live in her little part of heaven instead of mine.

For $540K, in my little part of heaven you could buy three 1600 sq ft houses like mine (each with three offstreet parking spots, plus ample onstreet parking), and have money left over.

But also for $540K, she is getting something that apparently is worth it to her - - two parking spots in her little part of heaven. She must REALLY love it there.

Sometimes we see something we want, and decide we simply must have it. Personally I would rather not spend my money on parking spaces in Boston, but she would probably prefer that use of her money to any other. One of the great things about America is that we can choose to spend our money on what appeals to us most.

 

[bUU]

And don't forget that such a thing could be a decent real estate investment, over time.

 

[bld999]

"And don't forget that such a thing could be a decent real estate investment, over time."
______________________________________________________________
Scarcity creates value. Marinas are very expensive and time consuming to develop these days, which produces eye-openers like this:

Ads - Featured Listing - Private Boat Slip - USA Boat Slips

Water with a mud bottom for $280/ft. Still not as much per ft as the Boston asphalt.