This 100-Year-Old Law Is Choking America's Housing Supply
Ken McElroy Show
Ken McElroy
4.8 • 692 Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
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Summary
Be sure to check out Sara's book at this link: https://amzn.to/4dCzTJT
And look at your local zoning at: https://zoningatlas.org
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Visit Ken's Bookstore: https://kenmcelroy.com/bookstore
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ABOUT KEN: Ken is the author of the bestselling books The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing, The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing, and The ABC’s of Property Management. With over two decades of experience in real estate investing, Ken McElroy is passionate about sharing the good life by helping real estate investors grow and prosper. This podcast is a place for Ken to discuss numerous topics connected to real estate investing, including finance, budgeting, the entrepreneur mindset, and creating passive income. Ken offers a wealth of personal experiences, practical advice, success stories, and even some informative setbacks, all presented here to educate and inspire. Whether you’re a new or seasoned investor, the information and resources on this channel will set you on a path where you and your investments can thrive.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | What if I told you that a 100-year-old law was responsible for your high rent? |
| 0:05.9 | In this podcast, you'll learn why, as we talk about an expert that stuck deep into this subject. |
| 0:11.1 | So today on the show, we have Sarah Bronon, who is a zoning expert. |
| 0:15.9 | Yeah, I sought her out. |
| 0:17.1 | I know many people might think this is a boring subject, but I'll tell you what, this is a |
| 0:21.4 | hundred-year-old law that's keeping rents high. Yeah, and it's really interesting how she breaks it |
| 0:27.4 | down and really helps to understand, you know, what needs to be changed in zoning in order to |
| 0:32.7 | actually build affordable housing. This is the biggest obstacle for builders. Yeah, because builders, |
| 0:37.3 | you know, people, that's always the biggest question is builders. Yeah, because builders, you know, |
| 0:37.5 | people, that's always the biggest question is like, why don't they build more affordable housing? |
| 0:41.0 | Well, a lot of it has to do with zoning. Well, the rules are there and they're hard to navigate. |
| 0:46.0 | And there are rules that you do have to listen to, unfortunately. So it's going to be good. |
| 0:50.4 | You guys, listen to it. What do you see is the most urgent zoning reforms needed to improve housing affordability? |
| 0:58.5 | Oh, thanks for the question and, you know, thanks for having me. I think in general, |
| 1:04.1 | for developers, for communities, for people who need housing and need places to open their businesses, the most important thing for zoning is probably clarity, clear rules that allow people to understand how zoning works and what they're allowed to do with their properties. |
| 1:24.7 | An example of this, I guess in the housing context, might be the list of things |
| 1:32.1 | that somebody who wants to build an apartment building has to do before they'll get permitted, |
| 1:37.5 | but to say that as long as you do those things, you'll get the zoning permit. We call that |
| 1:43.1 | as of right development, development that doesn't require public hearings, |
| 1:48.9 | something that can be approved through a checklist that staff can review. |
| 1:53.9 | That, to me, would be a really significant reform for housing, |
| 1:58.5 | but also just generally speaking, we need zoning codes that are much clear |
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