That's your own fault for being delusional enough to think that you should buy a house as an "investment" (or even worse as speculation because you think it will go up high and fast)

Buy a house if you like it and want to live in it for the next 30 years. Then you won't care about resale value.

Should we also feel bad for people who decided to short a bunch of random stocks because they had a gut feeling? Mortgages are highly leveraged, and are not inherently a safe investment. What makes them safe is when you're buying something you intend to live in anyway, because you'll always need some form of housing, you're just prepaying for it.

Besides, long term, this will make the neighborhood denser and ultimately increase land value. As long as you hold on long enough your resale value may actually go up. Either way, resale value is not something legitimate everyday people should be concerned with, only speculators. If you're not ready to commit to live somewhere for the next 30 years, rent.

Move somewhere else, probably somewhere with a home owners association where you can rest peacefully knowing your neighbors are not planting gardens [1][2] and painting their house improper shades of beige.

It's not on your property and it was built up to local code and zoning regulations.

[1] http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/16/249342738/in-...

[2] http://www.kshb.com/news/region-missouri/new-city-ordinance-...

Gee, that might be difficult, given that you probably have to sell the house for close to what you bought it to do that so easily (plus even if the house sold for the exact same price you're out a ton of money in closing costs for both deals).

I think the point was that if you are that worried about that scenario, move into an hoa controlled area in the first place.

Well my point is that it is a completely impractical solution to the problem since by the time the problem arises it is too late to do it.

In the U.K. if something like that was built it would put up the value of the smaller units as there is potential for redevelopment.

The UK has a lot of Victoria era terraced houses, and in big cities it's pretty common to see the attic converted into another bedroom or an extension build on the garden [0]. If you are the first person in your street doing it, you'll have a hard time getting permission from the council, but if someone else has done it, it'll be a lot easier.

[0] https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2016/05/landells-road-alma...