Sort of related to Scuba Ben’s announcement, anyone else think it would be interesting to see how much bang you get for your buck?
I’ll start: less than 800 sq ft when purchased 5 years ago, lot size 50 x 130, new addition of 320 sq ft ($20,000 to insulation stage), original paid $132,000 CDN. Classified as being in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).
And your abode?
Rural southeastern OH.
About 4000 square feet on four levels.
Paid $80000 for it two years ago.
Outer Boston area:
Paid $420,000 for a serious fixer-upper on 2 1/2 acres in a nice town. That was the only way that I could hope to end up with a house that I wanted in the Boston area. All the others in the $400,00 and below price range were simple not acceptable and I wanted some land.
We made it inhabitable for the first 6 months and then spent another 2 years so that it was nice.
Total cost of improvements $250,000
Total Estimated House Value: $650,000
City of Columbia, close to the city center, historical neighborhood. The house is 77 years old and very charming but on a less desirable road within the desirable neighborhood.
It’s about 1800 square feet, I paid $175,000 in August.
I live in an condo in Waikiki. Hawaii, USA if you don’t know where it is. I’ve got a little less then 800 ft² which could go somewhere between $300 to $500 thousand.
I really need to fix it up though.
Seminole, FL; Townhouse, 3BR/2 1/2 Bths about 1800sq ft; paid $119K nearly five years ago.
Athens, GA- 2,600 sq. ft., 4 bedrooms 3 1/2 baths, 1 acre lot, paid $120,000 for it in January 2000. Refinanced two years ago, and it appraised at $160,000.
Let’s see. Maybe about 1200 sf – two bedrooms, a family room and a kitchen, though I use the basement for an office.
Price paid: $31,000. Of course, that was in 1979. And I paid off the mortgage almost a year ago.
Tampa, Fla, 2300 sq ft living area, One Story, On a 200-yd dia. lake, 4-Br, 2-Ba, Living Rm, Dining Rm, Family Rm, Den, Built 1985, Excellent condition, Upper-middle class neighborhood surrounded by forest, assessed this year at $250,000.
New home 6 years ago. Second largest floorplan in the development, garage is 2 wide and 2 deep. 2700 Square feet on .10 acres. nice farm town that’s mostly already developed. It was $350,000 then, I hope it’s gone up.
1800 sq ft, 4 acres, greater DFW area, ~$180k.
Whoops, forgot to add: South East Denver…and it was .22 acres. (Whoo, hoo, almost-but-not-quite a quarter acre…at least it borders open space. Hey, I forgot about that, that was a lot premium too.)
About 5000 square feet on 11 wooded acres that backs up to probably 50 miles of wilderness (with a few roads) before you hit the Lake. The house is perched on a ridge looking down over a creek (you can see it from the living room and the loft overlooking the living room.) 3 bedrooms, a sauna, and a great room with 25" peaked ceiling. 5 minutes from downtown, 1.5 minutes to grocery stores/Target/etc. $390K, 2 years ago.
Do you know what a depressing thread this is? On a per square foot basis, houses out here are running in the $400-450 range. So your 1800 sf place, Metacom, would run you upwards of $700K. And that’s not even the expensive parts of town!
Middle TN, 1400 sq ft. 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, built in 1947. 3/4 acre fenced lot. New roof, siding, screened porch. Bought in 1989 for $39,000. Appraised last week at $92,000.
Bay Area. About 2150 sq ft. Paid $350K 9 years ago, worth $800 K now easy, based on comps. Maybe more after new carpet etc.
1,000 sq ft half of a duplex, on a 4,000 sq ft privacy-fenced lot, two bedrooms and an office (which could be used as a third bedroom if the louvered doors were replaced by solid doors), two full baths, central heat/air, wbfp, cathedral ceiling in living room, no garage or carport (but one can be and will be installed) but does have a private drive, built in 1984. Brick veneer, slab foundation (amazingly with no visible cracks and only ½" differential on this black gumbo clay soil), composition shingle roof. No alarms, no sprinklers, 1 mile from the world’s fifth busiest airport, 30 minutes to downtown Dallas, 25 minutes to downtown Fort Worth, needed a little work (mainly interior paint, replacing all the floor coverings and update the landscaping), bought 7 months ago for $85K.
4 bdrm. 2 bath tract house built in 1972, Southern California.
purchased 1987 $375K
today’s value $1mil +
I have an 1850 sq ft home with a small yard in a nice but not fancy neighborhood. I bought it in 1993 for $265k. A house just like it a block or so away just sold for $1.05 millon. That’s the median price for a home in this town.
I have a farmhouse and 14 acres built in 1849 in Middle Tennessee. My house is about 2300 sq ft. It has 12 ft ceilings and 4 fireplaces (the original heat source). It’s still very much a fixer-upper, but structurally very sound. The 1st storey floors are likely white oak. The ceilings and walls are beadboard. The bones of the house are cedar, more than likely cut on the farm. The 2nd storey floors are cedar. I’ve replaced all the plumbing and added city water. I’m insulating now. I need to replace the windows - they’re the originals, with wavey glass. They’re in good shape, but very much energy wasters. Maybe if I just add storm windows.
Anyway, I paid $60,000 at auction for the house and 14 acres with a large barn.
StG