Bike Commuting as a Home Selling Point
 

My neighbor told me that when he was buying his house, both the seller and the seller's realtor made a point out of saying that the guy next door (me) commuted to downtown every day by bike. I never would have thought that a selling point for a house would be that the neighbor bike commutes.

I guess I picked the right neighborhood.

Seems that you were part of a sales pitch and therfore are entitled to a fee. 0.5% of the gross would be reasonable. Say if the house was $100,000 (it was probably more than that) then you should get $500 minimum.

Of course you are required now, fee or no fee, to ride with the new people everytime they commute. My advice is to collect the fee and then tell the new people it's the other neighboor that commutes by bike everyday. Thant sounds fair to me.

The house sold for more than any on the block ever had. Maybe I should give my ex-neighbor a call.

:p Was that a selling point or a disclosure?

Right, they were "warning" the prospective buyer that he was moving near an eccentric :D

They were trying to make the house seem VERY close to downtown. Apparently worked! Now go ride across his lawn on a rainy day!

Don't forget the fees for all the supportive, friendly, bike forum members too! :D :D :D :rolleyes:

I just bought a house, and the main criteria other than the house wasn't going to fall apart tomorrow was that I can still bike to work. The new house is about a mile longer and a hillier commute but still very doable. The bonus is that it is a lake community and borders a state park so I can kayak and also hike/ski from my house too.. Double bonus!

Going solar too!

Jay

The fact that I only saw one single bike commuter while visiting a certain big city recently made me not want to move there. If I'd seen hoards, I may have wanted to go there.

I bought a house last year and there is a commuter trail in the backyard (about 200 ft behind house). There wasn't even any mention of it with any of the house ads or brochures and we were only aware of it when we saw it for ourselves at an open house. That is one reason we bought it and I think the house has more value because of it, but I guess no one else thinks that. Maybe when we're all riding bikes in 10 years it will be more valuable!

You can't just leave us hanging!

Diane,

I never see any other commuters in my neighborhood, but I still have a very straightforward 7 mile commute. I don't think you can judge whether a city is commuting friendly by the fortitude of its meakest residents. We also live a 15 minute walk from the local grocery store and I have only ever seen my wife and I walk there. Rising obesity levels aren't really all that surprising.

I'm hoping to find a job within commuting distance of my home.

My new neighbor works about half way between our street and downtown. I asked him why his realtor told him about my commute. My neighbor had told his realtor that he wanted to live near the bike path. We are a little more than half a mile from a really good path (it goes along a river and rarely intersects roads) that goes to his job and then continues downtown.

We have a walking neighborhood. Like Treespeed, I often walk 10 minutes to a nearby chain grocery store, but on the weekend, I drive to a family-owned grocery store that's several miles away (much better meat at betterprices). Unlike Treespeed's neighbors, I often see my neighbors walking.

And 2manybikes, I'll cut you in on 10% of the fee I received for facilitating the sale.

When we bought ten years ago we spent way more for a house two miles from downtown than we would have paid for one a 45 minute drive away. 35 years at $5K per year commuting......... Doing the math is easy justification. Plus we have three grocery stores plus delis etc. all with a 15 minute walk. Oh, and the ocean is less than a mile away.

^^ Damn!

My housemate/landlord was sold on hiks house because of bike trail practically going directly to work. Yay!

If I remember your previous thread correctly, I believe that you didn't look in the right neighborhoods. On my intown route, I passed four bike commuters this morning and am personal friends with at least a dozen other regulars. There aren't hoards of us, but I don't want hoards of bike riders anyway. Ride around with me and I bet I can change your mind about my big city.

good answer... :beer: