# How can these houses be afforded ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 5, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126 "2017-02-05T23:26:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/1 "2017-02-05T23:26:37Z")
This is a new sub-division just outside of Fort Worth. [http://walshtx.com/](http://walshtx.com/) The MINIMUM price of the houses there is just short of 300k with the higher priced ones being closer to 2-3 million and most of the land is on a the old Walsh ranch just outside of Fort Worth that is semi-arid ranch land and is not far from being a desert. One real estate person in the area told me that this is the largest open undeveloped area outside a major city in the USA. From what I have seen, most of the jobs around the area are either retail (Wal-Mart for example), in a restaurant (lots of fast food joints in the area), or some landscaping company. There are a few people in the area who work at Lockheed/Martin or in a government position but even people in these positions would struggle to pay for these semi mega mansions. It seems that the only way to pay for them is to take out a super long term loan or to have several people combine assets and then the maintenance of them would even be more expensive. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/2 "2017-02-05T23:35:46Z")
There are no high paying jobs in Ft Worth? Where I live, those homes in a comparable area would most likely sell for around $1M. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/3 "2017-02-05T23:37:57Z")
There are a lot of oilfield jobs in the area. Most of the managers I know are making $200-250. Several of them also hit it big in the Midland or Minot housing market and bought before the boom and we’re transfered at the peak. So a huge down payments of 400k and then a million dollar mortgage would get you into that range. Of course most of them are pretty excited to have their house paid off in thirties so aren’t looking to jump into.those kind of payments plus are all hoarding money due to their fears of getting laid off but there are certainly people in the area capable of buying those homes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/4 "2017-02-06T00:10:53Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > This is a new sub-division just outside of Fort Worth. > > [http://walshtx.com/](http://walshtx.com/) Based on the information at that link, the developers are also courting corporations to set up offices there. They’re building a makerspace as part of the development and will be offering fiber internet throughout, at speeds up to 10GB. So it sounds like they’re targeting Silicon Valley types. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/5 "2017-02-06T00:22:19Z")
Good point on the oilfield but the pay there is variable. However, the oilfield is one that you can either make or lose a fortune really quickly and right now, it is in the doldrums. The 10GB speeds for the internet could be a huge selling point. However, that will reach it’s saturation point soon as everyone seems to have a website these days. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/6 "2017-02-06T00:29:32Z")
A household with only slightly higher than average income could afford the payments on the sub-300K houses. Now whether they could get a mortgage may be another story. But _how_ can they be affordable: well, there are quite a few households that get by on around the minimum wage, so there must be quite a few people who make more than that or else the median would not be the median. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/7 "2017-02-06T00:32:51Z")
A number of people buying houses in that category are coming into the deal with hundreds of thousands in equity from houses they sold in higher cost of living areas so this knocks down the price quite a bit. and just ask houw much. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/8 "2017-02-06T00:39:41Z")
Great points I was thinking about the young people starting out that have none or negative equity. I am always amazed that various people from other areas with high housing prices (ie California) think that these houses are bargains. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/9 "2017-02-06T00:41:29Z")
Walsh is commutable to Austin. Lots of jobs there. People from the Bay Area could relocate and buy those houses in cash. I’m familiar with Toll Brothers as a high end developer, but not as much the others. Similar size houses by Toll Brothers in my area are about $1.5M - $2M. When I click the link to Drees- it takes me to a site that asks location for that builder. It doesn’t list Walsh specifically, but does list Austin. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/10 "2017-02-06T00:42:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > There are no high paying jobs in Ft Worth? > > Where I live, those homes in a comparable area would most likely sell for around $1M. Or the greater Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. There’s plenty of well off folks there, though the younger generations are probably much less fond of sitting in freeway traffic than their parents. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/11 "2017-02-06T00:46:13Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Walsh is commutable to Austin. Lots of jobs there. People from the Bay Area could relocate and buy those houses in cash. I’m familiar with Toll Brothers as a high end developer, but not as much the others. Similar size houses by Toll Brothers in my area are about $1.5M - $2M. > > When I click the link to Drees- it takes me to a site that asks location for that builder. It doesn’t list Walsh specifically, but does list Austin. It is a several hour drive to Austin one way and it would be tiring (especially if it is done each day). :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/12 "2017-02-06T00:48:28Z")
At least the lower end, those houses aren’t _that_ expensive, even for Houston. The [Houston Association of Realtors](https://www.har.com/content/mls) said that the median sales price for 2016 was $221,000, while the average was $283,000. In my experience, new homes are more expensive than existing housing stock and you don’t make back a massive investment in a whole new development by selling low-end houses. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/13 "2017-02-06T01:03:51Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > It is a several hour drive to Austin one way and it would be tiring (especially if it is done each day). :mad: My bad, I looked up Walsh and saw “walsh ranch”. That being said, there are jobs enough in Ft. Worth given that folks in other parts of the country will have hundreds of thousands in equity making the houses well affordable. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/14 "2017-02-06T02:20:58Z")
From Zillow: \*The median price of homes currently listed in Dallas-Fort Worth Metro is $295,000. \* ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/15 "2017-02-06T02:33:47Z")
I live in Boston, a notoriously high cost of living area, and one thing you get used to is accepting that half your pay is going to housing. There isn’t a way around that. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/16 "2017-02-06T03:05:32Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > This is a new sub-division just outside of Fort Worth. > > [http://walshtx.com/](http://walshtx.com/) > > The MINIMUM price of the houses there is just short of 300k with the higher priced ones being closer to 2-3 million and most of the land is on a the old Walsh ranch just outside of Fort Worth that is semi-arid ranch land and is not far from being a desert. > > One real estate person in the area told me that this is the largest open undeveloped area outside a major city in the USA. > > From what I have seen, most of the jobs around the area are either retail (Wal-Mart for example), in a restaurant (lots of fast food joints in the area), or some landscaping company. > > There are a few people in the area who work at Lockheed/Martin or in a government position but even people in these positions would struggle to pay for these semi mega mansions. Toyota has moved its North American operations to Plano. > > It seems that the only way to pay for them is to take out a super long term loan or to have several people combine assets and then the maintenance of them would even be more expensive. > > Thanks The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is extremely large and built up. I’ve been to Plano and McKinney and it’s a huge, sprawled out urban/suburban core. It’s not tumbleweeds, dust storms, and shit-kicking cattle ranchers like you seem to think it is. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/17 "2017-02-06T03:57:37Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is extremely large and built up. I’ve been to Plano and McKinney and it’s a huge, sprawled out urban/suburban core. It’s not tumbleweeds, dust storms, and shit-kicking cattle ranchers like you seem to think it is. I am well aware of that, probably more than you realize. (It is not called the Metroplex for no reason with 6+ million in population with a huge urban/suburban mix. Yes, this could be applied to any sub-division in the area. I was just using that as example. I am just constantly amazed at the price of housing and the huge size of these semi Mega McMansions and yes, the DFW area has quite a diverse eco-system as well. However, the area of DFW the Walsh ranch is on (which is very close to where I live) is mostly ranch-land, not a desert by any means, but closer to a prairie type of environment but this huge ranch even has different eco-systems within it. However, I have seen tumbleweeds, cattle and dust storms there, although they are not that common. Apparently, the Walsh family has been planning for this subdivision for the last decade (or more) as this is the largest empty block of land outside a major city. I am just amazed at the size and cost of these houses (the 300k is the entry level house:eek:) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/18 "2017-02-06T04:08:02Z")
Here is a another article on it [http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/02/20/fort-worths-walsh-family-republic-property-ready.html](http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2015/02/20/fort-worths-walsh-family-republic-property-ready.html) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/19 "2017-02-06T04:18:41Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > I am just amazed at the size and cost of these houses (the 300k is the entry level house:eek:) Thanks It’s very common for BRAND NEW HOUSES to be set at or around the median price for the area. Not sure why that is so surprising. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126/20 "2017-02-06T07:54:49Z")
The 295 000 is the median price in the DFW area This subdivision starts at 300k and it goes up from there with the median price close to 500K according to my real estate friend which makes it more expensive than normal in the area. What I am getting at ,is that someone making $15/hour (which usually ends up with an annual income of $30 000) would struggle to pay off this house without having some previous equity or some assistance in paying it off. The other thing to note is that some of these houses proposed are large in the 3000 to 4000 square feet range. Unless you have a big family, I never saw what going to over the 3000 square feet threshold gave you except more costs and maintenance. However, these houses are selling at these prices so I guess they can be affordable Thanks [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-these-houses-be-afforded/779126.md?page=2)