The good news in Silicon Valley is that people are donating houses to charitable organizations. The bad news is that the non-profits can't find any land to put them on. Faced with the same scarcity of land that contributes to the worst housing crisis in the last 10 years, local housing advocates appreciate the gesture but don't think it will help their problems in a significant way.
The Human Investment Project in San Mateo places about 700 people a year in homes of residents willing to share their homes with others. Judy Gaither, executive director, reports that they have three people looking for every person they actually place and a waiting list that grew so long they had to close it.Only 12 percent of the people of the people who work in Silicon Valley can actually afford to live there, according to the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County as reported by Sherri Palmeri of Office.com.
Residents who want to build a larger home, like Ali Moghaddam of Mountain View, California, can also deduct up to 50 percent of the income per year with the balance carrying over into the following five years. The financial incentive for a big tax deduction goes out the window if the non-profit cannot find land to place the home on.
Moghaddam is trying to entice interested parties with some extras: an Italian-designed dining room set, leather couches, a 1990 Honda Accord, and money for moving costs. He received 500 calls and letters from individuals and 27 charities asked him about the offer. But no one has said "yes" in the six months he has been trying because of how complicated the process is to move the house.
San Mateo County is one of the most expensive places to live in the nation. The rental vacancy rate is between 1 and 3 percent and rents average over $1,000 per month. The median sale price for homes in Santa Clara County was $547,000 in July, according to Exclusive Buyer Agent John VanDermyden of Buyer Vision Realty. The tide may be turning though based on what he is seeing in the marketplace recently. "The market appears to be slowing down, giving buyers more time to submit good offers on homes," stated VanDermyden.
